NKT, Prysmian win EUR 2bn of cable orders for SuedLink

Grid companies TenneT Holding BV and TransnetBW GmbH have awarded underground cable supply contracts worth a total of EUR 2 billion (USD 2.26bn) for the SuedLink wind power transmission project in Germany.

The two transmission system operators (TSOs) said today they have decided to use plastic-insulated underground direct current (DC) cables with a voltage level of 525 kV for this project. They have made orders to subsidiaries of Danish group NKT A/S (CPH:NKT) and Italy’s Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY).

NKT GmbH & Co KG will deliver and install a XLPE high voltage direct current (HVDC) onshore cable system with a route length of about 750 km under a contract valued at more than EUR 1 billion. It anticipates to begin production in early 2022 at its facilities in Cologne, Germany and Karlskrona, Sweden.

Prysmian PowerLink Srl, in turn, will design, manufacture, supply, lay, joint, test and commission a 2-GW underground cable system from North to South Germany as part of an order worth over EUR 800 million. The 700-km route runs from Wilster in Schleswig-Holstein to the north-west of Hamburg.

The EUR-10-billion SuedLink will carry wind power from northern Germany to the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg. The two TSOs have split the work so that TenneT is in charge of the northern section, while TransnetBW takes the southern part of the cable connection.

The grid operators noted that the project is currently mid-way between planning at a federal level and the formal public planning procedure. The Dutch company applied for approval of the northern section in early 2020. The entire project should be finalised in 2026.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.128)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!