The investments are said to be driven by a rising demand for high-voltage power cables, a robust intake of orders, and an order backlog of over €7bn at the end of Q1 2023
NKT announces €1bn investment to enhance HV power cable production in Sweden. (Credit: NKT A/S)
NKT has disclosed plans to invest €1bn to construct a new factory in Sweden for producing high-voltage (HV) power cables as well as in a new power cable vessel.
The new factory to be located in Karlskrona will include the company’s third 200m extrusion tower.
According to the Danish power cables and wires supplier, its investments are driven by a rising demand for high-voltage power cables, a robust intake of orders, and an order backlog of over €7bn at the end of the first quarter of this year.
From March 2023 onwards, the company has bagged high-voltage contract awards and booking commitments that surpass €5bn.
It will build a vessel with record-high capacity for laying power cables compared to vessels in the existing fleet around the world apart from substantially extending the Karlskrona production facility.
The extrusion tower will provide end-to-end production capacity next to the existing facility and will help the site become the largest high-voltage offshore cable production site, claimed NKT.
NKT president and CEO Claes Westerlind said: “The order awards and commitments from our customers in recent months highlight our leading position within turnkey solutions, XLPE and high-voltage DC technology.
“Power cables are key enablers of the transition to renewable energy and current high-voltage production and installation capacity is not sufficient to meet the increasing demand in the market. We are excited to continue growing NKT in line with our strategic ambitions and to continue developing our turnkey power cable offerings to our customers.”
The investments will be made through 2026 and the new assets will begin operations from 2027, said the Danish power cables and wires supplier.
In March 2023, NKT won contracts worth around €2bn from European transmission system operator TenneT for the cable connections of three offshore wind farms in the Netherlands. The wind farms, which have a combined capacity of 6GW are IJmuiden Ver Beta, IJmuiden Ver Gamma, and Nederwiek 2.