The project is an important part of SSEN’s commitment to ensuring network resilience and access to clean energy for the island communities.
The initial work has focused on two subsea cables which form an essential part of SSEN's Northern Orkney 33kV ring network serving the Northern Isles and include cables which traverse some of the most energetic tidal channels in Europe. The subsea cables are exposed to some of the most challenging subsea conditions in the UK. Their long-term resilience and continuous operation are a lifeline for island communities and ensures electric power can reliably replace diesel generators.
SSEN had previously received OFGEM SIF funding to develop Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to provide real-time insight into cable movement and environmental loading to support asset integrity. While trials showed potential, the volume of raw data (terabytes per day) made it technically and economically unfeasible.
Recognising the challenge and turning to Indeximate, SSEN engaged the business in 2024, appreciating that the patented data compression engine, Indeximation, could make continuous cable monitoring viable in practice. Installed on Westray in October 2024 and using only a 1 Mbps 4G connection to continuously transfer compressed DAS data to the cloud for automated analysis, Indeximate’s services have removed a long-standing barrier to using fibre-sensing as a low-cost security solution for vital subsea power cable connections to SSEN customers in Orkney.
Indeximate’s cloud-based analytics platform, Scattersphere combines with the Indeximation technology to process terabytes of DAS data into clear, map-based assessments of cable condition and long-term behaviour. Instead of raw data visualisations, SSEN has access to a practical and continuous picture of cable health over time, identifying exposure risk, movement, cable fatigue, and behavioural trends that can directly inform preventative maintenance decisions. Quarterly health reports allow SSEN to allocate resource efficiently and prioritise interventions in the areas that matter most.
Following the success of the first reporting cycle, SSEN has extended the monitoring agreement through to 2028 and established a Master Services Agreement with Indeximate. This will help support the rapid deployment of the approach on other critical subsea cables which SSEN have identified. The further rollout of this agreement will support and enhance SSEN’s investment approach on these assets as it develops its ED3 business plan for the regulated period between 2028 and 2033.
“Subsea cables in Orkney operate in some of the most challenging tidal conditions anywhere in the UK” said Chris Minto, Director at Indeximate. “Monitoring these cables to prevent failure can, realistically, only be done using fibre sensing. Indeximate’s technology has allowed SSEN to extract actionable insight from massive volumes of data generated by DAS fibre-sensing to support planning and asset management. We are delighted that SSEN has recognised the value of our technology for ensuring the health of their subsea power cable assets.”
Indeximate and SSEN will continue to collaborate throughout the current regulatory period to extend the approach to additional submarine cables and support the long-term resilience strategy for Scotland’s island communities.
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