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.

Nexans has entered into exclusive negotiations with Syntagma Capital, a Belgium-based private equity fund, for the sale of its Telecom and Data business.

A press release said that the proposed transaction “marks Nexans’ exit from the telecom and data activity in line with its strategy to simplify its activities and amplify its impact in electrification markets.” The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2023.

The sale would include eight sites spread across France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Morocco, China and Singapore that design, produce and commercialize advanced solutions for telecom, LAN networks as well as data centers. These operations constitute the main remaining part of the Telecom & Data division after the sale of Berk-Tek in 2020.

The proposed sale furthers the choice by Nexans to focus on electrification markets. In the company’s 2022 earnings report, CEO Christopher Guérin said that the numbers support that decision. “We were, yet again, proven right in reaffirming our choice: ‘Striving to champion a global sustainable electrification.’ As global grid investments soar, our Electrification businesses are up +12.9% organically, with record EBITDA performance, and all-time high adjusted Generation & Transmission backlog.”

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for Nexans from stable to positive and confirmed its ‘BB+’ rating. “Nexans’ operating performance has improved, thanks to progress made in its transformation plan, which focuses on electrification and achieving higher and more stable cash flows.”

At its website, Syntagma notes that the company, established in 2009, invests in businesses that can benefit from its hands-on operational expertise to accelerate growth and improve performance. It has deployed €1.1 billion in over 40 companies with revenues in excess of €4 billion and employing over 11,000 people worldwide.

The team has successfully carved-out businesses from public and private companies, among others, Solvay, Tessenderlo, Ashland, Clariant, Tyco International, Smurfit Kappa, ADT and Getronics.

Nexans SA announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Reka Industrial Plc to acquire Reka Cables for €53 million.

A press release said that the acquisition of the Finnish company will strengthen Nexans’ position in the Nordics, notably in electricity distribution and usages. Founded in 1961, Reka Cables has some 270 employees that manufacture low- and medium-voltages cables.

Reka Cables operates in four countries and was said to have expected 2022 revenues exceeding €160 million. The deal, pending approvals, is expected to be concluded in the first half of 2023. In November 2021, it became one of the first cable manufacturers to become carbon neutral per Scope 1 and Scope 2.

“With a deep commitment to energy transition and carbon neutrality, Reka Cables is fully aligned with the Group’s strategic ambition to become a pure electrification player committed to contribute to carbon neutrality by 2030,” said Nexans CEO Christopher Guérin.

“As a global player in electrification and an active promoter of the energy transition, Nexans is a great fit for Reka Cables,” said Reka Cables CEO Jukka Poutanen.

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Nexans has been selected as the preferred bidder for the award of the supply and installation of the HVDC 500 kV HVDC Mass Impregnated (MI) Cables for the 1,000 MW Cyprus – Greece (Crete) Link for EuroAsia Limited.

A press release said that the EuroAsia Interconnector is a leading project of common interest (PCI) of the European Union. It consists of the electrical interconnection of the power systems of Cyprus-Greece (Crete) and Cyprus-Israel with DC subsea cables and with HVDC converter stations at each connection point. The link will have a total capacity at present stage of 1,000 MW with capability to increase to 2,000 MW. The EuroAsia Interconnector will be the energy bridge between Asia and Europe, with a total length of 1,208 km, creating a reliable corridor for bidirectional transmission of electricity between Asia and Europe.

When completed, the EuroAsia Interconnector between Greece and Cyprus will be the longest and the deepest HVDC subsea cable project ever, with bi-pole cables of 2 x 900 km and a water depth of 3,000 m. Nexans notes that its 500 kV HVDC Mass Impregnated (MI) is the only field proven technology for deep-water subsea power cables. It will used Nexans’s long-term developments for 3,000 m of ultra-deep waters, with the installation provided by the company’s flagship vessel, the CLV Nexans Aurora. The two power poles of the bi-pole are expected to be commissioned respectively in 2026 and 2028.

EuroAsia Limited is the project developer of the European electricity interconnection project that will link the national grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece (Crete).

Nexans has signed a three-year partnership agreement that calls for it to supply Eiffage with charging stations for electric vehicles at a thousand French sites, representing more than 4,000 charging points.

A press release said that after 20 years of successful collaboration, Eiffage has renewed its trust in Nexans with its order for Nexans’ AGICITY charging stations, which are produced at its Donchery site in the Ardennes region of France. The compact charging stations can be customized for indoor and outdoor car parks, including numerous services and options for integrating high-performance digital solutions. The AC and DC charging stations supplied by Nexans operate at between 22-50 kVA, allowing two cars to charge at the same time. A 45-minute charge gives up to 80% of the electric range, depending on the vehicles and the power of the station.

An initial project overseen by Nexans to equip the Eiffage head office in Vélizy Villacoublay with 200 charging points was successfully completed in 2021.

With these developments, Nexans is once again displaying its industrial agility and its capacity to support its customers in their energy transition.

“This partnership enhances our collaboration even further, offering exciting development prospects in the rapidly expanding EVCI market,” said Jean-Louis Tisnes, Nexan’s French sales director for the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (Evci) activity. “It also demonstrates the commitment of our two groups to the energy transition.”

“Both companies are strong players and highly respected in the wire harness industry,” said Highland Holdings COO Tammy Wersal. “We are excited to continue our robust performance in the marketplace, and adding this family business puts us in a great position to continue that trend,” she said.

At its website, Precision Manufacturing reports that the company, founded by Marshall and Faye Ledwick, grew over the years with the Dayton automotive industry. After Marshal Ledwick passed, Faye Ledwick hired Donnie Hill in 2002 to be president. He expanded the company’s focus, enabling the company to become a world-class wire harness manufacturer, doubling its size multiple times.