LS Cable & System has inked a five-year contract with Danish energy firm Orsted to supply high-voltage export cables for offshore wind farms.

A press release said that the exact size of the deal is unknown, but media reports estimated that it could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. LS Cable & System has participated in multiple offshore wind projects with Orsted. It previously supplied cables to the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea One and Two, in England, and it will supply subsea cables for the Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farms in Taiwan.

Orsted is set to build a 1.6-GW offshore wind farm project in the waters off Incheon, South Korea, which Orsted Asia-Pacific President Matthias Bausenwein said would offer massive opportunities for local suppliers. The offshore wind farm will be installed with 100-140 wind turbines and be able to generate electricity for 1.3 million households annually. The project supports Korea’s Green New Deal initiative, which aims to put up 12 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030.

“The trend of investing in renewable energy will continue, even during the current Covid-19 situation,” said Myung Roe-hyun, president and CEO of LS Cable & System. “We are delighted to continue this cooperation with the leading company in offshore wind energy.”

Madison, Connecticut, USA – December 14, 2020 – The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. announces that its flagship trade exposition, Interwire, and its concurrent annual meeting have been postponed from the original May 11-13, 2021 timeframe and rescheduled to October 26-27, 2021 at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

WAI’s Board of Directors voted unanimously on December 10, 2020, to change the dates after discussion on the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the expected availability of vaccines and therapeutics, as well as the subsequent and anticipated lift of travel restrictions.

Commenting on the change, WAI’s First Vice President Thomas Heberling said, “We know that Interwire is important to the industry, and we are committed to producing a safe event. Southwire has been a strong supporter of Interwire and WAI, and I’d like to encourage decision makers at all the manufacturers and suppliers to keep an open mind. I’m expecting the months to come to show more promise, and I’m hoping that they will be accompanied by more renewed support for the industry to again meet in Atlanta.”

The new format will entail a shift from two-and-a-half days to two days, likely with longer exhibition hours.

WAI’s Executive Director Steven Fetteroll said, “Our staff has been working with the GWCC and area hotels to accommodate the shift and secure desirable dates. Details that will affect both exhibitors and attendees will be released as available through the event website: www.interwire21.com and in Wire Journal International.”

The 2021 staging of Interwire will mark 40 years since its inception. Hosted biennially, Interwire is an international trade event that includes exhibiting companies, speakers, and visitors from more than 50 countries.

The Wire Association International is a not-for-profit association with nearly 1,800 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International and the Wire Journal International Reference Guide.

Media Contacts: Janice E. Swindells, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-2777 x. 117; Steven J. Fetteroll, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-1777.

BSRIA projects that the global structured cabling market will decline 12% in 2020, from US$6.6 billion to $5.8 billion, and that consumption is not likely to return to 2019 levels until 2022.

A press release said that the first half of the year saw the largest fall, with severe disruption caused by national lockdowns. In some instances, the worst effects were felt in the second half. The report, which covers 10 countries and four regions, was updated to account for the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There were significant variations between countries, typically related to the general economic impact of the pandemic,” the release said. “There have also been various government support policies for the country economies in general or for specific sectors, such as buildings.” Additionally, vertical markets have fared significantly differently from one another. “Sectors such as travel, hospitality and retail (have been) especially badly hit, while healthcare, data centers and in some countries, education, remain more buoyant.”

Copper cable and connectivity suffered more than fiber did, reports BSRIA. Copper sales declined by 15% globally, with a range of 14% and 16% holding consistently across main regions of the globe. BSRIA attributes this decline to “a severe disruption in non-residential construction with the delay or cancellation of many projects.”

Fiber, on the other hand, declined 7% but with significant variations from region to region, “from a stable market in Asia-Pacific to a drop of 14% in America,” BSRIA stated. “In countries where fiber sales held up, this was often supported by increased investment in data centers partly driven by the effects of the pandemic in driving demand for web services.”

For more details, contact BSRIA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.bsria.co.uk.

NKT announced that it is part of a group effort to develop the prototype for what will be the world’s longest superconducting power cable. The project, first announced in 2019, seeks to develop and supply a record-length superconducting cable for use in Munich, Germany.

A press release from NKT said that Stadtwerke München Infrastrukur has now started the first stage development of the project. Called the “SuperLink,” the proposed 12-km-long underground power link would be the longest superconducting power cable solution in the world. It said that the ambitious project, which has seven partners, is an important indication about the future potential of superconducting power cables. The other partners are Linde plc, THEVA, the South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

“We are proud to take part in the early stages of the development,” said NKT Chief Technology Officer Anders Jensen. He noted that SWM and Link where Stadtwerke München and Stadtwerke München Infrastruktur are taking a significant step to leverage superconducting power cables. “It is important to continue to develop solutions to support the transition to renewable energy and the ambitions of the German Energiewende. In NKT, we see superconducting power cables as a part of the future to ensure optimized access to clean energy in larger cities such as Munich.”

The design of the superconducting power cables is extremely compact compared to conventional cable technology and can become a key enabler of the transition to renewable energy in urban areas due to the high power-to-size ratio. The SuperLink is expected to have a power rating of 500 MW and will be installed between two substations in Munich using existing ducts to keep the construction work at a minimum.

A fact sheet also noted that SuperLink will have a power rating of 500 MW and a voltage level of 110 kV; that the plan is to install it in existing ducts; the superconducting cable will be cooled to minus 200ºC in a closed circuit with the environmental harmless refrigerant nitrogen; and it will have a cooling system with redundant back-up coolers.

“With 1.5 million residents, Munich is a great city to develop and live-test the possibilities of superconducting power cables to expand the power grids in urban areas that will be an integral part of the system,” the release said.