Prysmian to showcase at the European Wind Energy Association Annual Event “EWEA 2011” in Brussels

Prysmian Cables & Systems, leading worldwide player in the energy and telecommunications cable industry, will present its state-of-the-art range of products and services for the wind power industry at the 2011 edition of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) Annual Event (formerly known as EWEC) that will take place in Brussels from March 14 to 17 - Stand 12058, hall 12.

Prysmian will exhibit its comprehensive range of cabling solutions for on-shore and offshore wind power generation, transmission and distribution including submarine cable systems - both AC and DC with high power transmission capacity (up to 864 MW, to date) - to connect wind mills among them and to ensure the connection with the power supply network, and Prysmian’s TECWIND™,  cabling solutions, a complete family of products, which include Medium and Low Voltage turbine cables specifically designed to meet the unique conditions of the individual plant and installation area.

The EWEA Annual Event is one of the leading wind conferences in Europe and it is a special opportunity to engage in high level political debates, technical discussions, business and networking. The exhibition visitors will be able to meet key players in the worldwide wind power industry: manufacturers, developers, engineering and construction companies, power generator and utilities form Europe, North America and Asia.

Several indicators suggest a very active phase for the wind industry in Europe: 308 new offshore wind turbines, worth some €2.6 billion, were fully grid connected between 1 January and 31 December 2010, totalling 883 MW – a 51% increase on the previous year (in 2009 investments in new European wind farms reached € 13 billion, including € 1.5 billion for offshore).

Recently, Prysmian has acquired and completed several offshore wind farm development projects such as Gunfleet Sands, Ormonde, Walney I and II, Thanet and Greater Gabbard (currently the world’s largest under construction) in the UK and Alpha Ventus, BorWin2, HelWin1, SylWin1 in Germany, the latter of these a true milestone in the offshore wind power transmission industry, being it the first ± 320 kV DC cable project using extruded technology (highest direct current voltage level ever reached), the longest connection to offshore wind parks, the first connection to offshore wind parks above 800 MW and the largest VSC system with a capacity of 864 MW.

Prysmian is active part of “Friends of the Supergrid” a new organization born to promote and support the development in Europe of large-scale direct current power connections (the Supergrid) as part of the implementation of the European Directive for the promotion of the utilization of power coming form renewable sources. The Group is also one of the key players within the industrial partnership patronised by the French Government aimed at studying the feasibility and the realisation of the trans-Mediterranean super-grid “Medgrid” that shall carry renewable energy from Northern Africa to Europe, as part of the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP).

These achievements again demonstrate Prysmian’s leading position and the validity of the Group’s know-how and technologies in the development of state-of-the art cables and systems and the commitment to support smarter and greener power grids worldwide.