May 12, 2021 – Vineyard Wind has received approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the final major step in the federal review process for a project that, when completed, will be the first commercial scale offshore wind farm in the U.S..

“Today’s (decision) is not about the start of a single project, but the launch of a new industry,” Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen said in a press release. “Receiving this final major federal approval means the jobs, economic benefits and clean energy revolution associated with the Vineyard Wind 1 project can finally come to fruition. It’s been a long road to get to this point, but ultimately, we are reaching the end of this process with the strongest possible project.”

Vineyard Wind 1 is an 800 MW project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard The project design includes the world’s most powerful wind turbine, the GE Haliade-X, with a capacity of 13 megawatts (MW). The larger turbine capacity has allowed the project to reduce the total number of turbines from 108 to 62 while still delivering a total capacity of 800 MW to Massachusetts ratepayers. The turbine layout, which features consistent spacing of one nautical mile between turbines, was endorsed by the United States Coast Guard for transit, fishing and navigational safety. Vineyard Wind will reach financial close in the second half of 2021 and begin delivering clean energy to Massachusetts in 2023.

Southwire has previously been named a key supplier for the project. Southwire will manufacture more than 32 miles of high voltage cable at its facility in Huntersville, North Carolina. The company’s high-voltage field services team, working with local laborers, will install the cable with a projected onshore site completion by the first quarter of 2023.

Vineyard Wind LLC is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Since 2017, the Vineyard Wind 1 project has been through an unprecedented and exhaustive public review process that generated more than 30,000 public comments, more than 90% of which supported the project, the release said. The Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was reviewed by more than two dozen federal, state, and local agencies over the course of more than three and a half years.

The announcement of the federal approval was lauded by the participating suppliers as well as Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, U.S. Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Congressman Bill Keating, Massachusetts Senate President Karen E. Spilka, Speaker of the House Ronald J. Mariano, State Representative Patricia Haddad, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and Frank Callahan of the Massachusetts Building Trades.

The release noted that. since 2017, the Vineyard Wind 1 project has been through an unprecedented and exhaustive public review process that generated more than 30,000 public comments, more than 90% of which supported the project. The Construction and Operations Plan (COP) was reviewed by more than two dozen federal, state, and local agencies over the course of more than three and a half years.

May 12, 2021 – What do the Cleveland Browns football team, The Estée Lauder Companies, Goodyear and CM Furnaces all have in common? This year each celebrates its 75th anniversary. Below, Vice President Jim Neill outlines the start of CM Furnaces—which has kept all its design and manufacturing in the U.S.—its evolution, its market broadening and where it is now. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.cmfurnaces.com

CM Furnaces was started in January 1946 by Seth Combs and James Murphy. The primary business was making coils and filaments for the electronics industry and lighting. Coils were made out of molybdenum and tungsten wire.

Both Combs and Murphy came out of the refractory metal industry and were very knowledgeable on moly and tungsten. Coils needed to be hydrogen-fired to shape, set and clean them. CM started to build its own hydrogen furnaces to support the coil business. We had some very interesting designs that attracted the attention of the three major lighting companies, GE, Sylvania and Westinghouse. At that time, CM started to build furnaces for all of them.

Word soon spread to other industries. Furnaces became a larger portion of the business. Technology was changing and the need for electronic filaments decreased slowly over time, while the furnace business continued to grow and expand.

Because we were so used to working with refractory metal wire, early on we moved into the wire industry. At first, it was moly and tungsten, then copper, stainless steel, nickel-based alloys, and titanium. These furnaces led to other uses in tubing, rod and small width sheet.

Continuous wire annealing furnaces are a very important part of CM’s business. The furnace business has grown into laboratory furnaces for all types of high-temperature research applications in a variety of atmospheres.
After 75 years, we are now in 12 major industries building both standard and custom units for a huge variety of applications. This base is a perfect platform for our continued growth into the future.

The future looks bright. The design of the furnaces continues to improve. The days of building your own are behind us. Most companies do not have the manpower or knowledge to do this. They would also be building a brand-new, 30-year-old piece of equipment, whereas we are building furnaces every day. The more furnaces we build, the more that we learn. This constantly helps us improve the product. We are looking forward to our 100th anniversary.”

May 12, 2021 – Alloy Wire International (AWI), a specialist producer of round and profile wire, straight bars and wire rope in ‘High Performance’ nickel alloys, has appointed Gürfil San.Ve Elek.Cih.Paz.A.S to help it grow its Turkish business by 20% over the next twelve months.

Angus Hogarth, Director of R&D at AWI, commented: “We are now supplying our wire into more than 60 countries worldwide and this is only possible thanks to the network of Sales Representatives we have developed around the globe.

“Orders to Turkey have enjoyed consistent growth over the last two years and we are now in a position to invest in a local agent that will give us an even stronger presence in the area. Yusuf Gunes’ knowledge and business experience will open up new contacts for us, as well as meeting the requirements of existing customers.”

He continued: “You can’t beat having that country specific knowledge for understanding how the market will react to changes, new trends that are developing and where opportunities may exist.”

Yusuf Gunes went on to add: “I’m looking forward to travelling in Turkey and meeting with AWI’s customers to find out how we may further help with their wire needs in ‘Exotic’ alloys such as Inconel, Nimonic, Hastelloy, Monel, MP35N, Phynox and Waspaloy.

“They are already used by manufacturers of springs, fasteners and mesh for example, with these materials often used because of their excellent performance in high temperature or very corrosive environments.

“AWI has a very good reputation in Turkey and customers are switching on to its ability to make small order quantities in short 3 week lead times and in such a wide size range, starting from 0.025mm to 21mm. Our technical expertise will also be crucial when discussing product application or a wire specification.”

Alloy Wire International currently supplies in excess of 5000 customers involved in automotive, aerospace, defence, medical, nuclear, oil and gas and renewables.

A 60-strong range of exotic alloys, including Phynox, Inconel and Hastelloy, is available from 0.025mm (.001”) to 21mm (.827”) in small batches or medium/large volume – all within a three-week timeframe.

Strong demand has come from the Far East, Eastern Europe and Australia, with new international sales agents also appointed in Russia and Singapore to explore new opportunities.

For further information, please visit www.alloywire.com or follow Alloy Wire International on LinkedIn. Yusuf can be reached on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

May 12, 2021 – Prysmian Group strengthens its commitment to Diversity & Inclusion with the aim of further enhancing its human capital made up of around 28,000 employees worldwide. The increase in the percentage of women, both among white-collar workers and at the level of top managers, is among the sustainability parameters to which the payment of the company managers’ variable remuneration has been linked.

As evidence of the strategic importance of gender and cultural diversity, Prysmian has also set up a new global Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee, tasked with overseeing the achievement of the objectives that the Group has set itself. The Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee has the responsibility to define D&I objectives at each organisational level and support the definition of the actions to achieve and to promote a cultural change to facilitate Diversity & Inclusion within the work environment. The Committee is composed by Prysmian Turkey Human Resources Director Aysun Kalmik, acting as Leader, and Product Development Manager of the Lincoln (Rhode Island) plant Prasha Sarwate, as Deputy Leader.

In order to improve the gender balance in its workforce, the Group has committed to achieving the following Diversity & Inclusion objectives by 2022:

• Ensuring 40% of women hired (female white collars hired with a permanent contract) on total hirings (34% in 2020 compared to 30% in 2016);

• Increasing from 21.9% to 25% the percentage of women managers (from junior to top positions);

• Improving gender balance with regard to executive positions: from 6% in 2016 to 18% in 2022.

In addition, fundamental indicators (e.g., security) have been implemented in all the Groups’ 104 plants.

The D&I parameters are part of the sustainability objectives, to which the payment of the company managers’ variable remuneration has been linked.
In addition, the Group’s first Global eNclusion Week, a five-day digital event, will take place from 17 to 21 May, featuring a series of digital panels and workshops on the importance and advantages of building diverse and inclusive workspaces. The programme will focus on four main themes: Gender Diversity; Diversity & Inclusion in all its forms; Inclusive Culture in the workplace; and Generational D&I.

The Global eNclusion Week will be opened on 14 May by Fabrizio Rutschmann, Prysmian Group CHRO, followed by speeches by: Valerio Battista, Prysmian Group CEO; Mimi Kung, Prysmian Group Independent Board Member; Eric Rondolat, Signify CEO; Sabrina Ritossa Fernandez, Sycomore Asset Management; Maria Cristina Bifulco, Chief Sustainability Officer & IR Director Prysmian Group; and Massimo Battaini, Prysmian Group COO. For further details on all the events click here. The Global eNclusion Week will offer the opportunity to know more about how Countries, Companies and Associations are promoting Diversity & Inclusion around the world.

With the participation of an international and multicultural community, this initiative will feature one week of events open to everyone, where speakers from different industries and with different background will share their knowledge and best practices related to Diversity & Inclusion.
“We strongly believe that leveraging on gender, age and cultural diversity means creating more value and we are constantly building a work environment where all our employees can feel understood, respected and included, just as they are. This event is more than an aspiration: it is a necessity, or better, a business case for a Group that has to work with customers, suppliers and shareholders with different backgrounds and cultures. In order to improve this approach, it is necessary to raise awareness and build a positive dialogue, which can contribute to advancing the Group’s corporate culture”, commented Fabrizio Rutschmann, Chief HR Officer Prysmian Group.

Prysmian Group believes in the value of individuals, backgrounds, leadership styles and attitudes because each person has the potential to generate value to the Company. Its global footprint enables the Group to promote an inclusive environment, encouraging the development of corporate culture and identity. Side by Side is Prysmian Group’s project that promotes Diversity & Inclusion across the organisation.

The Prysmian Group
Prysmian Group is a world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry. With almost 140 years of experience, sales of €10 billion, about 28,000 employees in over 50 countries and 104 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and offers the widest possible range of products, services, technologies and know-how.