Prysmian to develop turn-key export & inter-array cable connections for the first 66 kV offshore floating wind farm

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a contract worth approximately €30 million by PGL (Provence Grand Large), a floating offshore wind farm project located in South France, which is part of EDF Renewables, for the development of a turn-key submarine cable system.

The system to be supplied includes 3 km of submarine dynamic inter-array cables and 19 km of export cables for a total of 22 km, in addition to the land cables for a route of 9 km. All submarine cables will be produced in Prysmian Group’s centres of excellence in Drammen (Norway) and Vilanova (Spain), while the land cables will be manufactured in the Gron plant (France).

“This award confirms once again our technological leadership in the development of innovative offshore wind farms, as well as our excellent project management capabilities, which enable us to offer customised, high-performance solutions to our customers. This project is a further proof of Prysmian’s expertise in providing comprehensive packages of cable system services covering the entire project lifecycle,” said Hakan Ozmen, ESVP Projects at Prysmian Group.

“It is the first turn-key project for a floating wind farm ever developed by the Group, where we employ our innovative dynamic 66 kV submarine cables with EPR insulation. This project is also the first pre-commercial floating offshore wind farm ever developed in France,” said Alessandro Panico, Sales Team Manager - Offshore Wind, Prysmian Group. “The EPR technology is a key enabling factor for the development of dynamic cable solutions thanks to its unique mechanical and electrical properties,” concluded Panico.

The PGL project comprises also of a full combined PRY-CAM permanent monitoring system, developed in close collaboration with the customer. All inter-array connections will be permanently monitored using PRY-CAM innovative solutions for Partial Discharge (PD) measurement, Distributed Temperature (DTS) and Acoustic Sensing (DAS) to measure all key operating parameters of the whole cable system.

“This is the first example in the world of a full combined permanent monitoring system for an offshore windfarm,” stated Roberto Candela, CEO of Prysmian Electronics. “We have worked in close collaboration with the customer to design a tailor-made monitoring solution that will allow to constantly monitor and guarantee the rating of the transmission system,” he added.

Commissioning is scheduled in 2021, conditional upon the signing of the contract, which is expected in summer 2019. Once completed, the floating offshore wind farm will provide 24 MW of clean, safe and reliable energy to more than 40,000 households in France fostering the growing industry of renewable energy sources.