Nexans announced that it has signed a contract for the Orkney Transmission Link, for which it last year reserved capacity, and that it plans to expand a plant in France.

A press release said that Nexans finalized the contract for the Orkney Transmission Link that will exchange up to 220 MW of energy between the Orkney Islands and the UK mainland. It will have one high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) that requires about 53 km of subsea cable and 15 km of land cable for the route from Finstown in Orkney to Dounreay in Caithness.

The contract includes both the production and the installation of the cable. The 220 kV high voltage alternating current (HVAC) cable will be the largest capacity cable connecting the Orkney Islands to mainland Scotland and will span 53 km offshore and 16 km onshore routes in total in Finstown, Orkney and Dounreay in Caithness, U.K.

The interconnector will be manufactured at Nexans’ plants in Halden, Norway, for the offshore sections, and Charleroi, Belgium, for the onshore cable sections. Nexans will also install the cable. The project will be delivered in 2027.

The company also reported that it plans to spend €15 million to expand the medium-voltage cable production capacity of an existing plant in east-central France with two new production lines and an overall upgrade of the entire manufacturing flow.

A press release said that the expansion will take place at the facility in Bourg-en-Bresse in the region of Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, over a period through 2026. It is needed to meet the growing demand in the energy sector.

Plans call for the installation of a new stranding machine that can produce new, larger aluminum cable sections, including sizes up to 400 sq mm. The plant will also get a new cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) triple extruder. The new equipment is expected be up and running in the first half of 2026. Other upgrades will be made to the sheathing and assembly lines to strengthen production of the company’s EDRMAX reinforced direct-buried cables.

Nexans announced that it has signed two memorandums of understanding with the Moroccan government for a new cable plant in Morocco that would open in 2026.

A press release said that Nexans signed the agreements with the Moroccan Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Investment, Convergence and Evaluation of Public Policies, the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) and the Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency (AMDIE).

The project, which calls for a €100 million total investment plan, would be the company’s third plant for medium-voltage cable in Morocco, the others being in Casablanca and Mohammedia. The project is expected to create more than 200 direct jobs and will benefit from the backing of the Moroccan Ministries, the ONEE and the AMDIE. The project will meet the Group’s standards of excellence, in line with its Industry 4.0 digitalization and sustainability goals and will deliver cables to Africa.

“Once again, I commend Morocco’s outstanding leadership in bringing the benefits of sustainable electrification to all,” said Nexans CEO Christopher Guérin. The project is aligned with the desire of King Mohammed VI, the current leader in the region and across Africa, for deployment of renewable energy infrastructure.

The release said that Morocco aims to consolidate the entire industrial ecosystem in the years to come. The described transformative project will strengthen the development of the renewable energy industry value chain in the Kingdom and to promote technical advancement in the local industrial fabric.

Guérin said that he was pleased to see this latest step in the country, where Nexans has been operating for more than 75 years. “This project, bringing together public and private players, sets out to achieve, from the very start, ecological and human commitments, thereby unlocking significant economic potential for all of Africa.”

Nexans reports that it has agreed to reserve capacity so it can supply and install high-voltage cables to SSEN Transmission to provide a transmission link from Orkney to Dounreay in the Scottish Highlands.

A press release said that capacity reservation agreement was signed by both parties for the project. The official contract, expected to be signed in the second quarter of 2024, will require approximately 100 km of 220kV AC subsea and land cables. The Orkney Islands is investing in further renewable energy projects and needs more transmission capacity so it can export energy to the Scottish transmission network.

“This agreement marks a significant milestone for Nexans and we look forward to collaborating closely with SSEN Transmission,” said Nexans Executive Vice President Pascal Radue. “The Orkney transmission link is critical for the development of renewable energy in the UK, and underscores our commitment to advancing electrification and renewable energy in the region.”

In what it describes as “a historic first,” Nexans reports that it has been awarded a turnkey contract valued at €1.43 billion for the section of the EuroAsia Interconnector that connects Greece and Cyprus.

A press release said that the interconnector is a critical part of a broader project to connect the grids of Greece, Israel, and Cyprus. The 525 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable, which will be the longest and deepest interconnector in the world with a bi-pole length of 2 x 900 km, will run across the Mediterranean Sea floor at depths of more than 3,000 m. The subsea HVDC mass impregnated cables will be manufactured in Nexans’ facilities in Halden (Norway) and Futtsu (Japan). Installation will be done with the Nexans Aurora and Nexans Skagerrak cable-laying vessels.

The EuroAsia Interconnector will exchange up to 1,000 MW among the three nations with the capability of increasing to 2,000 MW, the equivalent to 3 million households’ average electricity consumption, and will end the energy isolation of Cyprus by creating an energy highway between Europe and Asia, it will be the largest interconnector project in history, supplying over three million homes with electricity. Pole One is expected to be completed in 2028 and Pole Two in 2029.

“This record-breaking project demonstrates our capacity to innovate and push the limits of electrical transmission and distribution to meet an ever-growing global need,” said Nexans CEO Christopher Guérin. “This is a crucial step on the path to a carbon-free economy. Nexans’ global electrification strategy is playing a key role in the world’s journey to a net zero future and we are excited that we have been selected to bring the development of the EuroAsia Interconnector to life.”

The interconnector was designated as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) by the EU, a status designed to allow the project to benefit from accelerated planning and permitting, lower administrative costs, and public participation. To qualify as a PCI, a project must also contribute to the European Union’s energy and climate goals, so that much of the electricity being shared will be from renewable and decarbonized sources. IPTO, the Transmission System Operator of Greece, was cited as having provided essential technical and operational capacity to the project.

Nexans announced an expansion of its presence in the offshore wind and interconnection market by adding a third cable laying vessel to its fleet in 2026.

A press release said the new ship will build on the cutting-edge technology of Nexans’ flagship vessel, the Nexans Aurora. The new ship will have an improved design, comfort and capabilities. Equipped with three turntables, it will have 13,500-metric ton loading capacity, and host subsea tooling such as jetting and ploughing tools.

The vessel will be capable of laying up to four cables simultaneously to meet specific customer requirements, especially on large-scale projects. It will have an advanced hybrid power system and be capable of running on a biodiesel mix.

“This new vessel will be the most technologically advanced cable layer ever deployed” said Nexans COO and Senior Vice President Vincent Dessale. “Fitted with a range of high-tech cable installation and burial equipment, it will enhance the capabilities of our subsea cable operations to tackle projects on an unprecedented scale. This new strategic asset will support the Group’s long-term growth, consolidating its leadership in the interconnection and offshore markets. It perfectly embodies Nexans’ strategy to electrify the future, and its innovative features illustrate our ever-increasing commitment to meeting our partners’ needs.”

TenneT, Netherland’s transmission system operator (TSO), has commissioned NKT, Nexans and a consortium of LS Cable, Jan De Nul and Denys to supply and lay some 7,000 km of power cable for offshore and onshore use that is valued at some €5.5 billion.

A press release said that TenneT, which serves as TSO for the Netherlands, and a significant part of Germany, owns and operates over 25,000 km of H-V lines and cables. It is now expanding that scope through 525 kV direct current cable systems for corresponding grid expansion projects. The company is completing the major tenders for grid connection systems that it started last year with this second framework agreement. These include 14 offshore connections, five of which had already been commissioned by the Dutch at the beginning of
2023, and one direct current project on land. The breakdowns for the orders are as follows.

NKT. The company will be responsible for connections for Nederwiek 3 in Geertruidenberg or Moerdijk, and Doordewind 1 and Doordewind 2, in Eemshaven. The order includes approximately 100 km of onshore cables as well as 300 km offshore cables divided into three onshore and two offshore sections to avoid cable laying in the submarine Capbreton Canyon. NKT will produce the power cables at the high-voltage factory in Karlskrona, Sweden, with expected commissioning of the full project by 2028.

Nexans. The company has received the order for the cable of the offshore projects BalWin3 and LanWin4 to be connected in Wilhelmshaven, as well as that of LanWin2, which leads to the Heide area in Schleswig-Holstein.

LS Cable consortium. The consortium of LS Cable, Jan De Nul, and Denys will be responsible for the other cable systems for the projects in Lower Saxony. These include BalWin4 and LanWin1, both of which are to be connected in the Unterweser area. The portfolio also includes LanWin5, which has its onshore network connection point in the Rastede area. The consortium has also been awarded the contract for the TenneT-side part of the 525 kV onshore DC project NordOstLink in Schleswig-Holstein. NordOstLink is a TenneT partner project with the transmission system operator 50Hertz.

The collective scope of the contracts includes cable design and engineering, production, delivery, project management and subsequent onshore and offshore laying of the 525 kV DC cables. Work will start in 2023, with onshore cable laying after 2025. At sea, cable-laying work is expected to begin in 2026. The offshore projects, each with a transmission capacity of 2 gigawatts, are expected to be operational by 2031 and NordOstLink by 2032.

TenneT COO Tim Meyerjürgens said that the project is an essential step for energy transition. “Together, with this award alone, we will implement around 7,000 km of DC cable for onshore and offshore grid connection systems in Germany and the Netherlands by 2032.” Each 2GW cable system will have a positive and negative conductor, a metallic return conductor and a fiber optic cable.

Nexans announced that it has completed its acquisition of Reka Cables, a Finnish manufacturer of high-, medium- and low-voltage cables from Reka Industrial.
A press release said that the acquisition marks an additional milestone of Nexans’ ambition to become a pure electrification player committed to contribute to carbon neutrality by 2030, focusing on the overall value chain.

Reka Cables, headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland, has been providing high-quality cables to customers in the energy, infrastructure, and building sectors for over 60 years. The company operates three manufacturing plants in Finland which will be complementing Nexans’ existing operations in Sweden and Norway. In 2022, Reka Cables reported current sales of €172 million and an EBITDA of €11 million.

Lars Josefsson, general manager BU Nordics, Nexans, lauded the acquisition. “Together we can do even more to solve the greatest challenge of our time, the climate transition, and accelerate electrification both here in the Nordic region and the rest of the world.”

Josefsson said that one of the sustainability goals of Nexans is that 95% of everything sold in the Nordic region be produced in the Nordic region by 2025. “By the integration of Reka, we reach 90% local production, and are well on our way to reaching the goal ahead of time.”

Nexans has been awarded the cable contract for PacWave South, the first U.S. grid-connected, wave energy test facility that is being jointly developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Oregon, and Oregon State University to further the research of innovative renewable technologies.

A press release said that the project is a significant step in the American sustainable energy transition and will further solidify Nexans’ position as a pure player in sustainable electrification. PacWave South consists of four berths that capture the energy generated from the movement of waves and each berth will produce up to 5MW of energy.

RT Casey LLC has selected Nexans for the design, engineering and manufacturing of the 36 kV submarine and terrestrial cables that will run across the ocean floor; Nexans will provide the four medium voltage AC (MVAC) cables that bring the energy from the berths to shore. The cable lengths total 80 km or roughly 20 km per cable. This project serves as a pilot to test an alternative form of energy generation that is renewable and minimally invasive to the environment.

“Signing the contract for PacWave South shows Nexans’ commitment to innovation and sustainable energy solutions,” said Ragnhild Katteland, executive vice president of Nexan’s Generation and Transmission Business Group. “The future of energy generation will contain a large variety of renewable sources and PacWave’s wave energy facility will give us the knowledge necessary to further develop this new and exciting form of power generation.”

The project, scheduled to be energized by 2024, was described as a significant step in the American sustainable energy transition and an important milestone in Nexans’ strategy of becoming an organization dedicated to innovation and sustainable electrification.