2017 Sustainability Overview | Prysmian Group

63 Products and services known to the market as “SURF” -- Subsea Umbilical, Riser and Flowline -- for exploration and the offshore production of oil and gas, in 2017 added a new technology of umbilical cables called steel tube for dynamic applications. In the field of cables for submersible pumps the technological trend of operators in the oil extraction sector is aimed at simplifying the installation and maintenance phases as well as limiting the relative costs, which involves developing extremely innovative solutions that require new generation cables with very specific additional performance. Work continued to increase the number and density of fibres contained in a single cable: the last design involves the housing of 3,456 fibres, organised into 6 elementary nuclei of 576 fibres each in a single cable, which uses the BendBrightXS fibres with a diameter of 200 μm to promote miniaturisation without compromising sensitivity to bends. In the field of Product Development of Very High Voltage Cable Systems, new prototypes for 525 kV HVDC systems insulated with proprietary P-Laser technology were produced. The conductor section, 3500mm2, is the largest produced to date in Prysmian while the choice of aluminium as the conductor material made it possible to limit the weight of the cable. Thanks to the P-Laser technology, the system can therefore operate at a conductor temperature of 90° C (instead of 70° C as is normally the case for HVDC cables insulated in XLPE) ensuring a power equal to that of a cable of the same voltage but with a conductor of 2500 mm2 section in insulated copper in XLPE. In the Special and submarine optical cables, the OPGW technology, in stainless steel with an aluminium coating, has been consolidated up to 96fo, while the spiral space technology has been integrated into the product portfolio. With these technologies, cables have been qualified for various projects in the field of special cables, for example dyke cables with a vertical height of 500 m. The family of high mechanical strength and chemical (ALPA) or fire integrity (ALPAM) optical cables has been further developed. The production of submarine cables started at the Vilanova plant in Spain. As for submarine cables, a 330-km optical core was successfully produced for the COBRA project. Year 2017 saw further improvements in the process of manufacturing fibres at the factories in the USA and Brazil, where an autonomous production process is nowoperational. Another important innovation concerns the use of "Few Mode" fibre technology that allows digital information to be transmitted using a limited number of "modes", whereas, until now, it has been possible to do so only using single mode fibres. Prysmian has continued to develop new accessories for the use of Ultra Broadband Access networks. The main innovations involved the development of a new range of termination caps, the development of additional components for the joints, which have made it possible to extend their use in the network, thus increasing Prysmian's market share, the development of multiple components and the launch of an extensive test program to qualify the joints. 2017 was characterised by the definitive entry into force of the European standard on the homologation of cables according to the Construction Products Regulation standards. The intense development activity carried out in previous years to adapt the products to the new legislation has allowed the Group to reach from the outset a prevailing position in the various local markets. However, the work of completing the range and optimising costs will continue intensively throughout 2018. Improvements have been made to the 6A U/UTP solution, based on discontinuous metal tape for cables with copper conductors. The Power of Ethernet technology continued to be the main engine for the extension of the product range and use in the field. Wireless access points, cameras, sensors and other IoT devices (Internet of Things) are connected to each other. Even the new Reduced-Twisted-Pair technology is gaining ground: the first projects that will enable, therefore, 1 Gbit/s transmission channels on a single pair have been qualified. This also allows us to support ongoing standardisation work. Oil&Gas Optical cables Terrestrial cables OPGW Optical fibres Connectivity Trade and installers Multimedia solutions