Prysmian Group has secured a new award by 50Hertz Offshore GmbH – a subsidiary of 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, transmission grid operator in Germany – worth approximately € 230 million to design, produce and install a power cable system for the offshore wind park cluster West of Adlergrund in the German Baltic Sea.
The award comes as a result of 50Hertz exercising an option for a further grid connection already provided for in the existing contract for the West of Adlergrund project – that was originally worth € 480 million effective immediately with options for further grid connections to be activated separately – when secured by Prysmian in May 2014 .
Massimo Battaini, Prysmian Group’s Senior Vice President Energy Projects, said: “The activation of this option is a tangible sign of the Group’s strong and acknowledged reputation and of the trust of the market.”
The project scope comprises the design, supply and installation of multiple high voltage submarine cable systems, now including this additional connection, between planned offshore wind parks, approximately 40 km north-east of the island of Ruegen, to the Lubmin substation in North East Germany (and consequently with the mainland electricity grid) along a route of approximately 90 km (submarine) and 3 km (land).
The 220 kV HVAC (High Voltage Alternate Current) 3-core extruded cables (including fibre optic cable system) will be produced in the Group’s centres of technological and manufacturing excellence for submarine cables in Pikkala (Finland) and Arco Felice (Naples, Italy), which have recently been upgraded to be fully equipped to manufacture and test large cross-section 3-core cables up to 400 kV AC.
Marine cable laying will be performed using the Group’s DP2 ship Cable Enterprise, specifically geared to use her particular expertise in offshore wind farm connections in the best way to serve the growing markets in Northern Europe and to provide highly complex installation solutions. The vessel has been newly upgraded and converted from dumb barge to self-propelled DP2 vessel able to operate in very shallow waters.
The production of the West of Adlergrund cable systems has already started and installation operations are scheduled to begin in 2015.
Image: 50Hertz