Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian has secured a contract worth over €300m to provide submarine power cable links for three offshore wind farms in France.
The award by Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) is claimed to be the first contract ever for linking offshore wind electricity to the French grid.
Prysmian will develop submarine cable links to connect Fécamp, Calvados and Saint Nazaire offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean to the country's mainland grid.
The company will design, develop, supply, install, test and commission two HV export power cable links. It covers both the submarine and land routes to connect the wind farms to the French network.
RTE is the electricity transmission system operator in France, which is responsible for operation, maintenance and development of high-voltage transmission system in the country.
The submarine cable links will include high voltage alternating current (HVAC) 220kV three-core cables with cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation and single wire armouring.
While, submarine cables will be developed at Prsymian’s facilities in Arco Felice, Italy and Pikkala, Finland, cables for land sections will be manufactured at Gron, France.
The cables are expected to be delivered between 2018 and 2020, depending on the individual scheduling of the wind farms. And the wind farms could be commissioned between 2019 and 2022.
Prysmian stated that it will use its own Cable Enterprise, a DP 2 vessel for cable laying activities.
Prysmian Energy Projects senior vice president Massimo Battaini said: “Prysmian is already widely involved in the provision of reliable and more sustainable power transmission connections in France, through the realisation of the France-Spain and the Italy-France interconnectors.
“The offshore wind market in France is a new and promising development in this segment, and this contract not only consolidates our relationship with RTE but also re-affirms Prysmian’s world leadership in providing HV submarine cable solutions.”
Image: Prysmian to supply and install cables for three offshore wind farms in France. Photo: Courtesy of Prysmian Group.