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• in the area of P-Laser technology for Utilities products,
the Delft plant has obtained qualification of the P-Laser
system for 30 kV applications in the Netherlands, while the
new version of the high-performance insulation package
has been put into production; in Italy, cables using the
P-Laser design and Air Bag protection technology have been
supplied to renewable energy plants; internal qualification
has been carried out for a prototype HVAC P-Laser cable that
operates at a temperature equal to or higher than that of
cables insulated with traditional materials;
• in the Trade & Installers and Power Distribution businesses,
the product portfolio was rationalised by taking advantage
of synergies arising from the integration of Prysmian and
Draka; there was also continued development of green
products using raw materials derived from sugar cane
fermentation;
• in the renewable energy field, the Group’s solar cables
obtained VDE qualification in China and the Underwriter
Laboratories (UL) certification in Germany; two patents were
also filed for an innovative cable for solar cogeneration;
• in the petrochemicals sector, a Sea-Flam cable for the
offshore market was developed in Italy, featuring resistance
to temperatures of up to 1000°C, as well as to mechanical
shock and water spray; specific activities were also started
to transfer know-how between the Group’s different plants
and research centres in Europe, North America, Brazil and
China; in the umbilical cables field, a special cable using
Pre-Salt technology for deepwater exploration in Brazil’s oil
fields was manufactured and qualified; production of high-
tech 2.5” and 4.0” flexible pipes started at the Vila Velha
plant in Brazil, with the first deliveries made to Petrobras.
Achievements in the
Telecom business
included:
• in the field of optical fibre and optical fibre cables for
telecommunications, the Prysmian Group strengthened
its market leadership with the development of bend-
resistant fibre (BendBright-XS) and special cabling solutions
for Fibre to the Home applications and mobile networks
(LTE and 4G networks); in particular, during 2012 the LT
2.0mm BendBright-XS family of cables was launched
in the United States; the reduced diameter and weight
of these cables means that less material is needed for
their manufacture, resulting in a lower environmental
impact; new “RetractaNet” technology, able to reduce
subscriber connection costs by 25%, was introduced in the
Netherlands;
• in the Connectivity field, several connectivity accessories
were developed for use in FTTH (Fibre to the Home) and
FTTA (Fibre to the Antenna) applications;
• in the Multimedia & Specials business, the innovative
“MaxCap-BendBright” fibre was introduced and has
replaced more traditional standard fibres in local network
and data centre applications; a new family of cables, called
OM4+, was also introduced, featuring chromatic dispersion
compensation and longer connection distances for 10 Gbit/s
transmission; furthermore, with the launch of the new Cat
6a UTP cable, suitable for business critical applications, the
Prysmian Group has reaffirmed its leadership in Category
cables.
