The new electric grid ring in St. Petersburg

Prysmian Group has supplied around 45 km of 330kV cables to the electric grid ring in St. Petersburg, Russia. This has included 16 km of submarine cables to connect the new substation on Vasilievsky Island outside the city. The submarine cables have the highest voltage ever used in Russia thanks to their copper wire armouring, allowing higher power rating.
All cables have been produced at the plant in Pikkala, Finland. Installation of some 30 km of underground cables began in March 2012 and installation of the joints one month later, while the submarine cables started to be laid in autumn 2012.
The underground cables are halogen-free and fire resistant, with low-smoke outer sheaths, and include optical fibres to monitor temperature. These cables, which were transported to St. Petersburg mainly in 4-metre diameter steel drums, are being installed by a Prysmian Group local partner.
This part of the grid ring is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.