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Prysmian to invest €1.8 billion in capacity expansion to meet rising cable demand

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Prysmian to invest €1.8 billion in capacity expansion to meet rising cable demand

Prysmian will invest €1.8 billion in renewable transmission assets over the coming years to 2027 to meet surging demand for cables that are enabling the shift to more sustainable electricity supply.

The value of Prysmian’s projects in execution - in HV land and submarine field - is expected to triple to more than €30 billion by 2027 from €11 billion in 2021, and the company is adding new production lines at several plants and enlarging its fleet of vessels to prepare for this significant expansion, said Alberto Boffelli, Transmission BU Chief Operating Officer at Prysmian.

“We have a huge effort ahead of us. Therefore we are investing in capacity, as well as upskilling our resources and launching a program to improve the way we manage the business”

Alberto Boffelli

Alberto Boffelli

Transmission BU Chief Operating Officer at Prysmian

The transition to power generation from renewable sources requires electricity transmission and transportation to final consumers, which means that cables are set to play a key role in helping governments to achieve 2050 targets to reduce climate-harming emissions.

60% of Prysmian’s planned €1.8 billion investments in renewable transmission assets will be in cable manufacturing assets, and about 40% will go towards expanding installation capacity.

“Our strategy is to rely on four state-of-the-art power transmission cable hubs: one in Northern Europe, thanks to the increasing investments in the Pikkala plant in Finland, another one in the Mediterranean area, where we are investing around €100 million in the existing plant in Arco Felice, Italy, a third one in Central Europe to better serve HV underground business. A fourth one will be a completely new submarine cable plant in the USA, in Massachusetts, serving the very high potential North American market” commented Boffelli.

On the manufacturing side, the company is building new production lines at its Pikkala plant in Finland, a center of excellence for the manufacturing of high-tech cables for submarine and land interconnections and for both offshore and onshore wind farms all over the world.

The expansion at the Pikkala site will more than double the plant’s existing production capacity of 525 kV extruded submarine cables and 400 kV AC cables by 2026. It is set to become the highest building in Finland thanks to its vertical tower (VCV) for extruding cables, which is designed for further potential extensions.

In the Mediterranean area, the company already announced an investment of more than €80m to expand its Arco Felice centre of excellence for the production of submarine cable in Naples, Italy, especially in view of the Tyrrhenian Link interconnection. Prysmian is also aiming to double capacity at its Gron plant in France, which produces high-voltage direct current (HVDC) land cables. The expansion will add an additional 600 km of capacity for underground cables, making it the largest factory of its kind in Europe. Meanwhile in the U.S., Prysmian wants to confirm its positioning by preparing to build the Brayton Point submarine cable plant in Massachusetts which has been designed to support the North American market.

Prysmian is also aiming to double capacity at its Gron plant in France, which produces high-voltage direct current (HVDC) land cables. The expansion will add an additional 600 km of capacity for underground cables, making it the largest factory of its kind in Europe.

Meanwhile in the U.S., Prysmian wants to confirm its positioning by preparing to build the Brayton Point submarine cable plant in Massachusetts which has been designed to support the North American market.

“What we are doing now to support the energy transition is really extensive. It is demanding, it is challenging, and it is really a reshaping of the cable industry arena”

 

On the installation side, the company is planning to increase its fleet from five to eight vessels by 2027. It is currently building the Monna Lisa cable-laying vessel, the sister ship to the state-of-the-art Leonardo da Vinci, and is planning to commission a new barge, along with a new cable-laying vessel also in the engineering phase.

“In a relatively short time period, we have more than doubled the capacity of vessels. We are becoming a fleet owner, and we will have the biggest fleet ever in the market with the largest installation capabilities, thanks also to our burial tools,” said Boffelli.

The new barge is set to start delivering projects from January 2025, around the same time as the Monna Lisa. The other new cutting-edge cable-laying vessel is scheduled to come to full operation in 2027- and is a completely new design serving shallower depths but with higher capacity. This will require a greater time period for engineering and construction.

Visibility in the market is becoming more long-term as customers plan further ahead to ensure capacity as strong demand causes tightening supply. This is making it easier for Prysmian to plan investments, increase resources and model the size of the business.

“Now we are selling projects that have to be manufactured and installed in 2030 and beyond 2030. For an industrial company like Prysmian, this is a great benefit. We are able to invest with the solidity of a market which is certain, clear in terms of geography, in terms of customers, and complexity for at least seven to 10 years,” said Boffelli.

To meet the challenge, Boffelli and his team have recently launched a transformational program which aims to improve the way the business is managed. It is focused on key processes and on introducing new technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and support for operations from a distance.

It will also seek to standardize the execution of projects. This is to ensure predict

“Achieving predictability in the way we deliver the project is crucial to have the right performances in the long run,” said Boffelli. “This is about having standards, having well-trained employees, continuous upskilling of people, having solid processes, and to produce new automated technologies so that people can focus on value-added activities.”

The breakthrough 525 kV submarine cable technology is the company’s latest innovation and is specifically designed to support the energy transition thanks to its key features that enable a massive increase in transmission capacity to 2 GW, which is more than double the value achieved with the 320 kV DC systems currently in service.