Belgium: New contract for Prysmian for an offshore wind farm

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded contracts by Nobelwind NV, an offshore wind farm developer, to supply wind turbine inter array cables for the Bligh Bank 2 offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Zeebrugge in Belgium.

Prysmian is responsible for the design, manufacture and supply of the 33 kV submarine cables with various cross-sections to be used to connect the 55 individual wind turbines and an Offshore High Voltage Substation (OHVS) that form the 181.5 MW wind farm located near the existing OHVS of Belwind1.

In addition a 33 kV coupling cable shall be supplied for use as a back-up connection between the Belwind1 OHVS and the Bligh Bank OHVS. Prysmian will also provide the offshore cable termination and testing services for the project. The cables will be produced in Prysmian’s facility in Drammen, Norway, one of the Group’s excellence centres for submarine cables. Installation works are scheduled to be complete by the first half of 2017.

This new project re-affirms the Group’s full capability and expertise in offshore wind farm cable connections and demonstrates an extended ability to execute complex solutions that support the demands of this growing industry.

Over the years Prysmian has moved ahead with major investments in new and upgraded assets, broadening the range of its offered products and innovative technologies, strengthening services and capabilities in production and execution in order to serve the market as a trusted and dedicated partner for offshore wind parks cabling needs, whether for medium voltage inter-array cables, HVAC and/or HVDC export cables, as well as turn-key EPC installation services.

Prysmian can rely on three production facilities dedicated to submarine cables, situated in Arco Felice (near Naples, Italy), Pikkala (Finland) and Drammen (Norway); two installation vessels, Giulio Verne and the recently upgraded Cable Enterprise, together with well-proven in-house cable protection equipment, and specialised operations teams.

Within its portfolio, Prysmian holds already an ever-increasing track record of offshore wind power connections. Recently the Group has been awarded a contract for inter-array turnkey supply of medium voltage submarine cables for the Wikinger offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea in Germany.