€850 billion 525 kV HVDC XLPE Submarine Cable System first
Prysmian Group, world
leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded
a contract worth in the region of €850 million by Eastern Green Link 1
Limited, a joint venture between the UK transmission grid owners SP Transmission
plc and National Grid Electricity Transmission plc, to provide the cable
systems for a major UK network development project between Scotland and
England.
The award of the EGL1,
which has now been added to Prysmian’s order backlog, follows the selection
of Prysmian as the exclusive preferred bidder earlier this year and a subsequent
commitment made to assure Prysmian Group’s continued capacity availability.
Eastern Green Link
1 (EGL1) will form a vital electricity transmission link between Torness
in East Lothian, Scotland and Hawthorn Pitin County Durham, England and
is the first contracted cable system in the UK to utilise 525 kV HVDC (High
Voltage Direct Current) technology with extruded XLPE insulation. With
a power transmission capacity of 2 GW, Prysmian shall design, manufacture,
install, test and commission the required HVDC cable system, delivering
nearly 400 km power cable needed for the 194 km route between the two countries.
The majority 176 km portion of the route shall beinstalled offshore in
the North Sea with onshore sections of around 8 km and 10 km in Scotland
and England respectively.
Prysmian will provide
HVAC cable systems along a ca. 5 km route in Scotland, to connect the converter
station at Torness with the gridsubstation near Branxton, requiring 30
km of 400 kV XLPE insulated cable, and the respective HVDC and HVAC cable
systems shall be completed with fibre optic cable and monitoring systems.
Cable manufacturing
is planned at Prysmian centres of excellence in Pikkala in Finland (for
submarine cables), as well asGron and Montereau, both located in France
(for onshore cables). Offshore installation activities shall utilize a
Prysmian cable lay vessel of the “Leonardo da Vinci” class. Commissioning
of the project is scheduled in 2028.
“We value immensely
the trust that SP Energy Networks and National Grid have placed in Prysmian
to deliver this first ofa technological kind project in the UK” said Hakan
Ozmen, EVP Projects, Prysmian Group “this milestone contract is a validation
of our leadership in the field of HVDC systems and the level of our commitment
to providing the support our customers seek as they develop and strengthenthe
cable network connections required for the energy transition”
Eastern Green Link
1 is one of a series of planned EGL system reinforcements between the East
Coasts of Scotland and Englandthat shall significantly increase the capability
and resilience of the existing UK transmission network and facilitate the
growth in flows of electricity from renewable generation to consumers.
These network developments support the UK government target ofenabling
50 GW offshore wind generation by 2030 and to achieving a Net Zero economy
by 2050.