Prysmian has been awarded a new contract worth around € 250 million for an HVDC submarine interconnector that will link Denmark and the Netherlands, by TenneT and Energinet.dk, the operators of the Dutch and of the Danish power transmission grids.
The COBRA cable (“COpenhagen BRussels Amsterdam”cable) will make Dutch power capacity structurally available to Denmark and vice versa, which should increase security of supply and enable further integration of renewable energy into the electricity grids.
“This important award reconfirms our prominent role in the submarine cables sector,” states Massimo Battaini senior vice president Energy Projects at Prysmian Group. “We are very pleased and most proud of having been chosen alongside Siemens to undertake this challenging project by reputed and long standing customers.”
The contract awarded to Prysmian involves the turn-key supply and installation of an HVDC bipole, using single core cables with extruded insulation technology, that will operate at a voltage level of ±320 kV with a rating of approximately 700 MW, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of all households in the cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam combined. It will run along a total route of around 325 kilometres, from Eemshaven (NL) to Endrup (DK) via the German sector of the North Sea, and will include two onshore lengths of 1 km on the Dutch side and 25 km on the Danish side to link to the onshore converter stations, which are to be provided under separate contract by Siemens.
All cables will be produced in Arco Felice (near Naples, Italy) and Pikkala (near Helsinki, Finland). Prysmian is currently building on recent investments made in its Pikkala factory with a further approximately € 10 million upgrade to existing production lines, to increase its manufacturing capacity of extruded HV submarine cables.
The marine cable laying activities, which will be performed by Prysmian’s cable-laying vessels, the Cable Enterprise and the Giulio Verne, will also see the use of their newly acquired barge.
“Following the completion of its conversion in the next months, which shall include the fitting of a 7000 mT turntable, this barge should offer Prysmian an extended and versatile range of installation capabilities, not least with its suitability for shallow water cable installation. Delivery of the cable system is scheduled by the 3rd Quarter of 2018,” the company said in a press release.