Prysmian keeps up with US growing offshore wind projects development

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, keeps up the pace in the execution of its robust portfolio of offshore wind projects is US. At the ACP Offshore WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition (18-19 October, Providence, Rhode Island), the Group will be showcasing its state-of-the-art range of products and services for the offshore wind farm industry, including submarine power transmission cables, such as inter-array cables up to 66 kV and AC export cables up to 275 kV (three-core) and 400 kV (single-core) and dynamic cables for floating offshore wind farm applications. In addition, DC cable solutions up to 525 kV for wind farms will be also on display.

The ACP Offshore WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition comes at a very important time for the Group, after being selected by Vineyard Wind to be the supplier of submarine cable systems for the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. The cable installation campaign will involve two of Prysmian Group’s state-of-the-art cable-laying vessels: Ulisse, which will lay the landfall sections, and Cable Enterprise, for the installation of the offshore sections. All operating activities will be in full compliance with the stringent local environmental requirements.

With the aim of supporting the growing offshore wind industry demand, the Group is also strengthening its operations in the U.S., with a $200 million investment to build a new strategic plant dedicated to the production of high-tech submarine inter-array and export cables. The Brayton Point cable hub will also have an R&D center with a high-voltage test lab, which will be the first of its kind in the United States and will be located at the heart of the sharply growing U.S. offshore wind industry. Construction is planned to start in summer 2023 and to last two years.

“Prysmian plays a key role in developing and upgrading power grid infrastructures to support the transition to renewable energy in the U.S. We have state-of-the-art cable technology and large production and installation assets, as well as a wide presence in North America. This allows us to support the growing U.S. offshore wind farm industry, which is expected to achieve the target of 40 GW installed capacity by 2035," said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects Business, Prysmian Group.

Prysmian Group has a significant footprint in North America — its “second home market” — with 28 production plants, 8 distribution centers, and 6 R&D centers employing nearly 6,000 people. Prysmian’s U.S. track record includes milestone submarine cable interconnection projects like Neptune, TransBay and Hudson Transmission, as well as the recently awarded SOO Green HVDC link. In addition to the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm cabling project already underway, Prysmian’s order book includes the €900 million Commonwealth Wind and Park City projects awarded by Avangrid and the €630 million project to link the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) wind farm to the mainland grid. Another project under execution is the Empire Wind inter-array cable system.