Lofoten-Vesterålen cabled observatory (LoVe) is an infrastructure on the seabed outside Hovden in Vesterålen, which consists of sensor nodes and cables that transfer energy and data.

A land station, a first sensor node and a cable between them were installed in 2013. LoVe shall now be expanded with 6 nodes and 4 cable stretches. The expansion is financed by Norges Forskningsråd and a scientific group. The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research is the main responsible partner and project leader. Two tender contests are being announced to continue the expansion. This is the first of them and is for the delivery and installation of the backbone in the system:

— 4 electro-optical cables to connect the sensor modes (~ 5-8 km each);

— 2 submarine distribution units for connecting sensor nodes (Subsea Distribution Units).

Tenders shall include both of these points.

A parallel tender contest for sensors/sensor platforms will be announced in early May 2016. Cooperation is required between the suppliers of the backbone and the sensor systems. Installation shall take place in 2017.

See the attached tender documentation and annexes for further information.