Nexans wins French cable job

French transmission system operator Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE) has selected Nexans to supply and install the export cable for the 496 MW Dieppe – Le Tréport offshore wind farm.

The contract, valued at around EUR 100 million, will see Nexans supply and install 47 kilometres of offshore and 18 kilometres of onshore power export cable for the wind farm located in the English Channel, more than 15.5 kilometres from Le Tréport and 17 kilometres from Dieppe.

RTE has been appointed by the French State to connect this wind farm from the offshore substation to the onshore power grid through the installation of two 225,000 volt subsea and onshore links.

”Two years after the award of the contract for the supply and installation of 225 kV power export cables for the St Brieuc wind farm, we welcome Nexans’ success in this new tender. In view of the elements provided, RTE is confident that this new collaboration will bring value to the French power grid and be a source of productivity and continuous improvement for both companies,” Gilles Etheimer
RTE’s Purchasing Director, said.

For the subsea section, Nexans will supply two 23.5-kilometre lengths of 225 kV three-core cable. The cable will have hybrid armoring and incorporate a fiber optic element to remotely monitor the health of the link and transmit information between the offshore wind farm and the onshore base.

The cables will be laid by the CS Skagerrak, one of the company’s two cable laying vessels along with the newly constructed Aurora.

The onshore link will consist of 18 kilometres of 225 kV single-core cable, similar to that supplied to RTE by Nexans under the current framework contract for onshore cables. Nexans will also be in charge of the cable burial and protection for the onshore section.

The awarded contract includes business continuity services such as inspection, maintenance, and repair for the entire project.

Nexans’ Halden plant in Norway will manufacture the subsea cables, while the land cables will come from the Nexans plant in Charleroi, Belgium. The fiber optic elements will be supplied from the Norwegian site in Rognan. The installation of the subsea cables should start in the second half of 2024.

”We are pleased to be working with RTE again to connect one of France’s largest offshore wind projects to the grid. This is the continuation of a long-term partnership. The key to success lies in our experience in this sector, combined with our ability to offer innovative and competitive turnkey cabling solutions. This puts Nexans at the heart of Europe’s energy transition and energy independence,” Laurent Guillaumin, Nexans Sales Director, said.

The Dieppe – Le Tréport wind farm is developed by the Éoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport consortium led by a joint venture between Engie and EDP Renewables.

The wind farm will comprise 62 Siemens Gamesa 8 MW wind turbines slated for commissioning by July 2024.

Once commissioned, the Dieppe – Le Tréport wind farm is expected to produce an average of 2,000 GWh per year, which represents the annual electricity consumption of approximately 850,000 people, or about two-thirds of the population of Seine-Maritime or more than the entire population of the Somme.