First US high-voltage subsea cable plant opens for business

Nexans has officially opened its high-voltage subsea cable plant in Charleston, South Carolina, the first such facility in the United States.

From the new facility, Nexans will deliver subsea cables up to 525kV HVDC and 400kV HVAC, covering the full range of needed products for export cables for offshore wind and subsea interconnections.

The first subsea high voltage export cable is expected to be delivered to an offshore wind farm in the UK at the beginning of 2022.

According to Nexans, the facility will create 210 direct new jobs by the end of 2021 and many indirect jobs locally by the development of the supply chain and support for the offshore wind industry.

“It’s an exciting time for the wind industry in the U.S. as we unleash the potential that offshore renewable energy offers. Our purpose is to ‘electrify the future’ and our expanded facility allows us to do that by combining decades of experience in developing and manufacturing high voltage cables with the newly launched and the most technically advanced cable-laying vessel (CLV) Aurora,” said Christopher Guérin, Nexans CEO.

“We believe that offshore wind will be key to create a clean energy economy; helping to add jobs, stimulate the economy, all while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.”

To remind, the French power cable manufacturer signed a framework agreement with Eversource and Ørsted back in 2019 to supply the first U.S.-made subsea high voltage export cables for their offshore wind farms.

This March, Nexans signed a preferred supplier agreement with Empire Offshore Wind LLC to connect the namesake projects to the New York State’s onshore grid. The projects cover the full design and manufacturing, as well as the laying and protection of over 300 kilometers of export cables.