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The Prysmian Group, a world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a contract from National Grid Viking Link Limited and Energinet to supply the majority of the power cable that will be needed for Viking Link, the first submarine cable connection between the U.K. and Denmark.

A press release said that the contract for Prysmian, worth close to €700 million, includes the turn-key design, manufacture and installation of the world’s longest interconnector. The project will require 1,250 km cable for the submarine route, and some 135 km of the land cables for the U.K. side. A separate related award for land cables was issued to NKT.

The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnector will operate at ± 525 kV DC. It will allow up to 1,400 MW of power to be transferred between the two countries, passing through U.K., Dutch, German and Danish waters, using single-core, mass-impregnated paper-insulated cables. The system will connect the converter station located at Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire, U.K., to the converter station located at Revsing in southern Jutland, Denmark.

"This project further confirms our undisputed market and technology leadership," said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects, Prysmian Group.

Prysmian plans to manufacture all cables for the project at its operations in Arco Felice, Italy, with the offshore cable operations to be carried out by its new installation vessel. Jointly owned by Energinet and National Grid, the Viking Link interconnector project is scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2023.

"We are proud to have the opportunity to support two of our most important customers, National Grid and Energinet, in the development of such a strategic infrastructure, which will represent a milestone for the upgrade of the entire EU power transmission grid," said Prysmian Group CEO Valerio Battista.

The Prysmian Group announced that it has been awarded a power cable contract worth €17 million from utility company New Brunswick Power Corporation (NB Power) for a project in the Canadian Province of New Brunswick.

A press release said that the Fundy Isles Project will see a new power cable link connect Deer Island, Campobello Island and Grand Manan Island to the mainland power grid in the Canadian province. Set for completion this October, it will upgrade the capacity of the existing submarine transmission system in the Passamaquoddy Region of the Bay of Fundy.

Prysmian will design and install a total of 20 km of 300 mm² 69 kV three-core submarine cable with XLPE insulation. The submarine core cables—one about 16.5 km long and a second about 3.5 km— will be made at Prysmian’s plant in Montereau, France, while the cable armoring will be manufactured at its factory in Nordenham, Germany. That plant became part of the Prysmian Group after the merger with General Cable.

“This project is particularly challenging for Prysmian as the section where the installation activities will be performed presents the highest tides in the world, with very strong currents,” Raul Gil, Prysmian Group Submarine Business Director said. “Moreover, the submarine route crosses an extensive fishing area and this limits the time window that can be used for installation operations.”

NB Power is the largest electric utility in the Atlantic Canada.

Nexans reports that it has been awarded a turnkey contract worth more than 100 million euros to reinforce the national grid of the Philippines.

A press release said that the order is from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which is looking to unify and reinforce the national grid with the launch of the Mindanao Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP). The goal is connect the three power grids of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao into one unified national grid  by 2020.

The release said that Nexans will provide 350 kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) mass-impregnated (MI) submarine cable in water depths up to 650 m for the submarine link. To optimize the delivery of the submarine cabling system for the MVIP, Nexans will leverage its global manufacturing footprint. The 350 kV submarine MI cable will be manufactured in Nexans’ Nippon High Voltage Cable Corporation plant in Futtsu, Japan, as well as in its Halden plant in Norway. The installation and protection works will be performed by Nexans’ cable laying vessel C/S Nexans Skagerrak.

“Nexans is delighted to once again be trusted by NGCP, building on a number of projects the Group has successfully completed in the region,” said Vincent Dessale, Senior Executive Vice President Nexans Subsea and Land Systems Business Group.
Per the release, in the last 15 years, power consumption in Philippines has increased by almost 80%, with 2017 use estimated at more than 94,370 GWh.

An epic Canadian project that took nearly four years of engineering, manufacturing, installation and testing has been completed, and Nexans reports that it has completed its contract to supply the longest submarine power cables in North America.

A press release said that the two 200 kV mass impregnated (MI) HVDC cables, each 170-km long and weighing approximately 5,500 tons, are part of the Maritime Link Project conducted by NSP Maritime Link Inc. (NSPML), an indirect subsidiary of Emera Inc. The 175 million euro contract also includes some 50 km of overland transmission cables in Nova Scotia and close to another 300 km cables of overland transmission on the island of Newfoundland. The cables were manufactured at Nexans’ factories in Halden, Norway, and in Futtsu, Japan.

Nexans installed the submarine cables in the Cabot Strait to a depth of approximately 470 meters, protecting them on the seabed and electrically interconnecting the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time. The final high-voltage tests were successfully conducted on the link in September 2017.

“We are thrilled to be part of this exciting project and we are happy to have completed the installation of these two submarine cables, the longest in Northern America, after almost 600,000 hours of designing, manufacturing and laying works,” said Nexans Project Manager Geir Korstad. “This success is undoubtedly the result of hard work and dedication of our highly-competent Nexans teams as well as the seamless cooperation with NSPML and our partners.”

The release described the Maritime Link Project as a new 500 MW (+/- 200 kV) HVDC interconnection that consists of converter stations and associated high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) switchyards as well as two HVDC transmission lines, a 230 kV HVAC transmission line, and associated infrastructure. The Maritime Link Project began in 2011. The project, it said, is part of efforts for Canada, which gets two-thirds of its electricity from renewable resources, to reduce its coal emissions by 50% by 2030. It will also enable Nova Scotia to meet regulations requiring 40% renewable energy by 2020.

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