Overview

UNITECH maintains a significant inventory of subsea cable and umbilical manufacturing equipment, including the only cable winding facility on Norway’s West Coast. This infrastructure supports prototype development, small-batch and pre-production manufacturing, and full qualification testing for dynamic and static subsea transmission systems.

Technical & Operational Significance

• Qualified West Coast cable winding facility capable of handling large cable drums, dynamic cable lengths, and heavy subsea products.
• Manufacturing equipment covering key production steps such as stranding, sheathing, armour application, and termination preparation.
• Qualification and testing capability allowing mechanical, electrical, and fatigue validation of prototype and pre-production cables.
• Integration with holistic UNITECH assets, including floating wind reference systems and deepwater mobilisation facilities.
• Support for dynamic power export systems, umbilicals, and subsea infrastructure relevant to offshore wind, subsea energy, and industrial projects.

Applications

• Prototype development of next-generation subsea cables and umbilicals.
• Pre-production manufacturing to validate designs before industrial-scale production.
• Qualification testing, including mechanical load testing, bend cycles, thermal performance, and dynamic fatigue assessment.
• Cable handling and integration for floating wind, subsea intervention, and offshore energy systems.
• Support for research programmes requiring controlled manufacturing and full traceability.

Strategic Importance

UNITECH’s manufacturing capability provides a physical infrastructure base aligned with the emerging demand for floating wind transmission systems, subsea grid expansion and specialised offshore cables. Having an operational cable winding facility and associated machinery on the West Coast improves logistical efficiency, reduces mobilisation times, supporting regional offshore energy activity.

This infrastructure underpins UNITECH’s role as an action-research organisation, enabling development and testing cycles that integrate real-world operational feedback from other assets such as Zephyros ONE and the Thunder Bay marshalling port.

Why It Matters

For organisations involved in offshore wind, subsea energy systems, cable manufacturing, or defence subsea infrastructure, this asset provides:

• Immediate manufacturing and winding capability without the need to build new facilities.
• Reduced project lead times due to proximity to key offshore regions and deployment sites.
• Capability for qualification and prototype testing, supporting new product introduction and verification.
• Strategic regional presence, offering logistical advantages on Norway’s West Coast.
• Integration potential with existing offshore operations, floating wind projects, and subsea test programs.

UNITECH’s combined machinery and factory capability represent a ready-made foundation encompassing industrial, research and commercial cable operations.