Extending the reach
in the offshore wind business

Doing Business

Extending the reach in the offshore wind business

Prysmian successfully commissioned the inter-array cable system for the Wikinger offshore wind farm in the West of the Adlergrund cluster in the German Baltic Sea.

After the new award secured for the Hornsea Project Two in the UK that will provide power to over 1.3 million homes with green electricity, Prysmian Group makes another step forward in this booming market with the completion of another milestone project.

The Wikinger project was first secured in February 2015 with a contract awarded by Iberdrola, the world-leading renewable energy developer and operator. The commissioning marks a further significant milestone for the Group, being one of the first large category offshore wind farms where the Group has been responsible for the full inter-array ‘turnkey’ supply and installation contract. Prysmian has been responsible for the design, manufacture, installation, burial, termination and testing of a total of 81 km of 33 kV submarine cables in various cross-sections to connect the seventy 5 MW wind turbines with the offshore substation within the 350 MW wind farm, offering strategic expertise and an extended ability to execute a complex and complete installation solution, whilst ensuring tighter control over the entire supply chain. The cables were produced at the Prysmian facility in Drammen, Norway, one of the Group’s three excellence centres for submarine cable production, along with plants in Italy and Finland.

This follows the award for the Hornsea Project Two in the UK, celebrated in the last issue of Insight, which confirmed the competitiveness of Prysmian’s offer in the high value inter-array market. The inter–array submarine cables system to be provided by Prysmian will connect 110 of the 165 wind turbines and the offshore substation platform in a project that involves more than 300 km of 66 kV inter-array cables with EPR insulation and single wire armouring systems plus all related accessories. Hornsea Project Two, located 89 km off the Yorkshire coast, will be able to supply well over 1.3 million homes with green, renewable electricity once it becomes operational in 2022. The project has been awarded to Prysmian by Ørsted Wind Power A/S for what will become the world’s biggest offshore wind farm.

UPDATING ON CPR AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AS T&I BENEFITS

The results achieved in the trade & installers business in 2018, as reported in the QUARTERLY OVERVIEW section, displayed an uptrend, as sales and profitability benefitted from the favourable sales mix following the new construction products regulation coming into effect, which also helped an increase in sales volume in Europe. In order to share knowledge and best practice, and consequently leverage on CPR initiatives and support local challenges, 30 people from the commercial and R&D teams gathered in Milan to provide an update on the current status of CPR adoption and product portfolio development.

The Group’s Energy Product Strategy & Business Development team introduced the meeting underlining that Prysmian Group is in full compliance with requirements since the mandate of CPR in July 2017. Prysmian Group was able to steer and educate the market exerting a positive business impact. Moving forward, the Group will have to leverage on excellence across affiliates, focus on developing its product offerings, take an active role in market surveillance, and invest in communication. CPR is still seen as a fundamental asset for business growth, while market surveillance and communication can represent effective ways to contribute to a stable and well-informed industry. Taking a proactive approach in new product development and influencing local requirements is the best way to avoid delay.

First submarine interconnection between Crete and mainland Greece

Under a contract worth €125 million, Prysmian will develop a 135km-long HV cable system to be laid at installation depths of up to 950 metres.

Prysmian Group secured a new contract, worth €125 million, for an interconnection between the island of Crete and mainland Greece in the Peloponnese region within a project awarded by the Independent Power Transmission Operator, which operates the transmission system for Greece’s power grid. The project is the first submarine electricity interconnection between the Greek island and the mainland and involves the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a high voltage alternating current cable system composed of 150 kV three-core cables with XLPE insulation and double-wire armouring. The route extends over 135 km, reaching a depth of installation of up to 950 metres.

The submarine cables will be produced at the plant in Arco Felice, Italy, and will be installed at sea by the vessel Giulio Verne, which forms part of the Group’s proprietary fleet and is among the most technologically advanced in the world. Delivery and commissioning are scheduled for 2020. The project is in line with the contract signed in 2014 with IPTO for the submarine connection between the island of Syros and the Lavrion energy transmission system in the Greek mainland, and confirms the Group as a key player in submarine connections in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean area, where Prysmian was recently awarded a contract for two interconnections between the Cyclades islands of Evia, Andros and Tinos.

Helping Singapore enhance power grids

The securing of an important contract marks the first venture for the Group in a major project in the APAC region in many years, partly thanks to a new factory in China.

Prysmian has secured a new major strategic contract in Singapore, marking the Group’s involvement for the first time in many years in a project of this size in the APAC region, which also involves the supply of locally manufactured products and solutions. Thanks to its extensive knowledge, high-performance cable solutions and the new cable factory in China, Prysmian has been awarded a contract by the Singapore utility SP Power Assets Limited, worth a total of €33 million, for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of two high voltage power cable systems to connect the Rangoon and Paya Lebar substations in the city-state.

Prysmian will also supply its monitoring system using the Group’s proprietary PRY-CAM technologies, which consists of a PRY-CAM grids permanent monitoring system for the automatic acquisition, processing and classification of partial discharge signals and spot temperatures, designed for remote monitoring of three-phase strategic assets. The power transmission system comprises of 44 km of high voltage alternating current underground 2000 mm² 230 kV cables with a seamless corrugated aluminium sheath and related high voltage accessories. Cable and accessories will be supplied by the Chinese subsidiary through its recently opened state-of-the-art factory which offers the APAC utilities market a wide range of high and extra high voltage cable technologies, as well as medium voltage solutions and fire protection cables.

The EPCI type contract will highlight the Group’s ability to provide a comprehensive package of services and to deliver a complete cable system solution including installation in a 50m deep tunnel in water-cooled troughs and supply of auxiliary cables, including telephone and LV cables, fibre optic cable and distributed temperature sensors for the distributed temperature sensing of power cables.