€850 million award for UK’s cable connection project lands on Prysmian’s order backlog

Italy-headquartered cabling giant Prysmian Group has tucked under its belt a contract win worth around €850 million for a high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable connection in the UK, which reinforces the target of enabling 50 GW offshore wind power generation by 2030 and assists the country in reaching its net zero by 2050 goal.

Prysmian has now signed a contract with Eastern Green Link 1 Limited, a joint venture between the UK transmission grid owners SP Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission, to provide the cable systems for the Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) network development project between Scotland and England.

Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects at Prysmian Group, commented: “We value immensely the trust that SP Energy Networks and National Grid have placed in Prysmian to deliver this first of a technological kind project in the UK. This milestone contract is a validation of our leadership in the field of HVDC systems and the level of our commitment to providing the support our customers seek as they develop and strengthen the cable network connections required for the energy transition.”

Furthermore, the new multi-million contract, effective immediately, has now been added to the company’s order backlog. This follows the selection as the preferred bidder for the Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) cable link in the UK and the commitment to assure the required capacity, which came shortly after the Italian company was selected for the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project.

The EGL1 project envisions the formation of a vital electricity transmission link between Torness in East Lothian, Scotland, and Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England. Prysmian underlines that this is the first contracted cable system in the UK to utilize 525 kV HVDC technology with extruded XLPE insulation. With a power transmission capacity of 2 GW, the Italian giant will design, manufacture, install, test, and commission the required HVDC cable system.

This will enable the delivery of nearly 400 km of power cable needed for the 194 km route between the two countries. The lion’s share of the 176 km portion of the route is expected to be installed offshore in the North Sea with onshore sections of around 8 km and 10 km in Scotland and England, respectively.

Furthermore, Prysmian will provide HVAC cable systems along an approximately 5 km route in Scotland to connect the converter station at Torness with the grid substation near Branxton, requiring 30 km of 400 kV XLPE insulated cable. The respective HVDC and HVAC cable systems will be completed with fibre optic cable and monitoring systems.

The Italian player reveals that cable manufacturing is planned at its centers of excellence in Pikkala in Finland for submarine cables, as well as Gron and Montereau – both located in France – for onshore cables. The offshore installation activities will require the use of the firm’s cable laying vessel of the Leonardo da Vinci class while project commissioning is slated for 2028.

“Eastern Green Link 1 is one of a series of planned EGL system reinforcements between the East Coasts of Scotland and England that shall significantly increase the capability and resilience of the existing UK transmission network and facilitate the growth in flows of electricity from renewable generation to consumers,” highlighted Prysmian.

The Italian giant has had a busy year, enabling it to secure new orders amounting to around €13 billion, including projects for which the Italian player has been selected as the preferred bidder. Last week, Prysmian’s new cable-laying vessel, Monna Lisa, reached the hull erection stage, marking the start of assembly and preparing to be launched into the water.