CDC, which purchased and redeveloped the site of the former coal-fired power plant, said that “the economic impact of Brayton Point’s transition to a renewable energy development will surpass the loss incurred by the closure of the coal-fired power plant”.
After signing the agreement with CDC, Prysmian continued working on the plan to bring the cable manufacturing facility to realization, securing the necessary authorizations and permits, one of which was challenged in court last year , according to local media.
The company announced it would end the development of the proposed subsea cable factory on January 17, according to U.S. Congressman Jake Auchincloss, who issued a statement on January 18 saying the company’s decision was “disappointing and discouraging.”
“The factory, on the site of a decommissioned coal-fired power plant, would have created hundreds of good jobs producing the submarine cables that plug offshore wind turbines into the electrical grid”, Auchincloss said.
Congressman Jake Auchincloss also mentioned the talks about a moratorium on offshore wind in the U.S. which, at the time when Auchincloss issued the statement, was discussed by the now-U.S. President Donald Trump at a press conference several days prior . Auchincloss said on January 18 that the word of a moratorium was generating uncertainty, leading to companies pulling back investments.
However, Prysmian says the company’s decision is not linked to any political development and that it is a result of a strategic assessment of market opportunities.
“Prysmian is continuously evaluating market opportunities for our capacity to be aligned with demand, to best serve our customers’ needs, and to also carry out efficient and timely investments — including all relevant permitting permissions — in our growing markets, in the US and globally. As a result of the consideration, including the strong growth opportunities in the U.S. and global cable markets, Prysmian has decided to not proceed with the purchase of the land in Somerset, and therefore will not proceed with the Brayton Point project. We would like to share our appreciation for the support that we received from the state and local leaders as well as the residents of Somerset while we worked on this project”, the company said in a statement.
A Prysmian spokesperson told our sibling news site offshoreWIND.biz that the company’s €18 billion transmission backlog was entirely concentrated in Europe and that Prysmian foresees the global transmission market to be worth €15 billion per year until at least 2030, with the Italian manufacturer having a circa 40% market share.
“There are excellent opportunities for growth in the US market, driven by data centres, reshoring of US industry, electrification and the overall increase in energy demand. This is fully aligned to our 4bn USD acquisition of Encore Wire in 2024”, the spokesperson said.
According to a source from within the market and close to the matter, the U.S. subsea transmission market differs from that in Europe in terms of the demand for interconnectors, with offshore wind being a far more significant driver of growth in the U.S. than interconnectors. Given that Prysmian had no projects of this kind in the backlog, it made the U.S. subsea transmission market very small so the company needed to align its investment in new capacity with the demand.
In Europe, the volume of opportunities in this regard is much different, driven by both interconnectors and offshore wind, with Prysmian already having a clear and large backlog there, according to the source from the industry.