First French offshore connection secured

Doing business

First French offshore connection secured

Prysmian to provide Réseau de Transport d’Electricité with submarine power cable links for offshore wind farms in the first contract ever for connecting offshore wind electricity to the country’s mainland grid.

The contract is framed in three projects, Fécamp, Calvados and Saint Nazaire, that are to be individually triggered. These are the first-ever grid access connections developed by RTE to transmit renewable energy generated by offshore wind farms to thousands of businesses and homes. Prysmian was awarded the contract, worth more than €300 million, with Réseau de Transport d’Électricité to develop submarine cable links to connect the three planned offshore wind farms to the mainland power grid in mainland France.

Massimo Battaini, SVP of Prysmian Energy Projects, stated: “We are proud to support RTE in this important challenge. We are already widely involved in the provision of reliable and more sustainable power connections in France, through the realisation of the France-Spain and the Italy-France interconnectors. The offshore wind market in France is a new, promising development in this segment, and this contract not only consolidates our relationship with RTE but also reaffirms Prysmian’s world leadership in providing HV submarine cable solutions.”

Prysmian will be responsible for the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of two HV export power cable links for each of the three offshore wind farms covering both the submarine and land connection routes. The links will consist of High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) 220 kV three-core cables with XLPE insulation and single wire armouring, and will be produced in the Group’s centres of excellence in Arco Felice, Italy and Pikkala, Finland. The cables for the land sections will be manufactured in Gron, France.

Landing in Chile

With the establishment of a new affiliate, Prysmian is reinforcing its position in the South American market.

The new Chilean affiliate of the Group Is now fully operational, building on its presence in the South-American market, which is experiencing growth in both the Energy and Telecom sectors. With Chile among the most promising markets, Prysmian has been selling into the local market for many years and decided to open a local legal entity to expand its reach in the country. Initially, Prysmian Chile will operate through a local warehouse, making the Group’s entire product range available to the local market. German Aparicio, General Manager, Prysmian Chile, stated: “This is a new milestone that brings Prysmian South America much closer to the Chilean customers, ensuring the availability of our entire product range.”

Land connection for offshore wind
Prysmian has secured a contract with East Anglia ONE to supply and install the land cable connection for the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm – a £2.5 billion wind farm comprising 102 turbines that will generate power for 500,000 households. The Group will supply and install a 220 kV double circuit from the Bawdsey shore landing to a new substation in Bramford – covering a route of some 37 km. Prysmian is responsible for the system design, supply, installation and testing of the cables and their accessories. The underground High Voltage cables will be manufactured by Prysmian and installed by its UK-based installation division, relying on the expertise of its technical design team.