INSIGHT 03 | 2015

21 / 28

21
Recently awarded to Prysmian Group,
from Surville,
France, to Archirondel, Jersey, including
28km of 90kV 3-core cable in a single
length, related network components
and specialist jointing works. Prysmian
will design, supply and commission the
submarine and land cable connections as
part of a larger contract worth almost €28
million, awarded to a consortium between
Prysmian and VBMS, that will perform the
marine cable laying operations, including
protection and landfall activities.
The submarine cable will replace
the existing obsolete Normandie 1
interconnector and its 100MW capacity
will be shared by both Jersey and
Guernsey islands under the Channel
Islands Electricity Grid partnership
agreement, which is the vehicle through
which the local utilities procure power
from EDF in France. The cables will be
produced in the Arco Felice plant in Italy,
while project completion is scheduled for
October 2016.
The mission of connecting
islands, worldwide
Prysmian Group boasts an unrivalled track
record for the connection of islands to
mainland grids, such as the Negros to Panay
in the Philippines, the Cyclades project
in Greece, the Capri-Torre Annunziata in
Italy, the Ibiza-Mallorca and the Mallorca-
Spanish mainland in the Balearic islands,
the Phu Quoc in Vietnam and the Hudson
Transmission Project interconnecting
Manhattan to New Jersey in the US.
Doing business
The longest HVDC
subsea cable ever installed
470 km
route
€550
million
Power to Jersey along 28km in a single length
T he project, also known as North
Sea Network,
It is of high
strategic value as it enables the trading
of power between Norway and the UK,
while providing a means to share the
use of renewable energy and secure
electricity supply. It is an
essential part of the European
grid reinforcement strategy,
aimed at reducing prices,
providing cleaner energy
and compensating for the
supply from ageing plants in
the UK that will be taken out
of service. Prysmian Group has
been awarded the contract worth around
€550 million, for a High Voltage Direct
Current (HVDC) submarine interconnector
by Statnett SF and National Grid NSN
Link Ltd, a project-specific subsidiary of
National Grid plc. The project represents
a true milestone as it will set a new record
as the longest HVDC subsea cable link ever
installed, following a route of about 740km
in length between the converter stations
in Kvilldal in Norway and Blyth in the UK.
The contract involves the turn-key supply
and installation of a total of around
950kmof submarine and land cables in two
sections to cover 470km route length.
The interconnection features
an HVDC bipole that will
operate at the voltage level
of ±525kV with a rating of
1,400MW. All cables will be
produced in the Arco Felice
factory of Naples, Italy,
one of the Group’s centres of
technological and manufacturing
excellence for submarine cables. The main
marine cable laying will be performed by
the Group’s owned ‘Giulio Verne’ cable-
laying vessel, using its proven capability
to handle extremely long cable lengths and
install these at depth. The delivery and
commissioning of the system is scheduled
to be completed by September 2021.
A key role in the most
strategic projects
Prysmian has been taking a
key role in the development
of some of the most
strategic submarine power
interconnections worldwide,
supporting the global upgrade
of power grids to optimise
the use of available resources
with its state-of-the-art cable
technology and its undisputed
expertise in the field of MI
cables.
The Group boasts an
impressive track record of
successfully completed
milestone projects using MI
cable insulation technology,
in particular with the SA.PE.I
project between Sardinia
and the Italian mainland, the
Neptune project between New
Jersey and Long Island, NY
in the USA and the Basslink
project between Tasmania
and the State of Victoria in
Australia.