Prysmian bringing Australia’s subsea green electricity interconnector to life for €600 million

Italy’s cable giant Prysmian has struck a multimillion-euro deal with Marinus Link, a subsidiary of the Australian transmission system operator (TSO) TasNetworks, for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, and delivery of the first stage of a new subsea power interconnector in Australia.

The award of a finalized, approximately €600 million contract for Marinus Link, a new power interconnector between Victoria and Tasmania in Australia, follows the capacity reservation agreement from September 2023, which came after the Australian, Tasmanian, and Victorian governments reached a funding agreement in October 2022 to build the bi-directional interconnector.

Hakan Ozmen, EVP Transmission at Prysmian, commented: “This project strengthens our global leadership, as well as our position in Oceania’s fast-growing renewables market. We are proud to support Australia in its goal to combine the benefits of renewable energy to deliver low-cost, reliable, and clean energy to customers.”

Under the terms of the deal, the Italian giant will design, test, supply, and install a high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable system, encompassing 320 kV single-core cables with XLPE insulation and single-wire armoring, covering both submarine and land sections. The firm will also provide a fully integrated PRY-CAM permanent monitoring system.

While submarine cables will be produced at Prysmian’s center of excellence in Arco Felice, Italy, the land cables will be produced in Delft, the Netherlands, or Gron, France. According to the Italian cable maker, the installation operations will be delivered with its Leonardo da Vinci cable-laying vessel (CLV). The start of activities is subject to the issuance of a notice to proceed, which is anticipated to be received by August 2025.

Spanning 345 km – 255 km undersea across Bass Strait and 90 km underground in Gippsland, Victoria, the project’s cables are set to be completed in 2030. This green electricity interconnection will lend a helping hand to Australia in reaching its emissions reduction targets by saving up to 70 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2050.

With a capacity of 750 MW for the first stage, the Marinus Link is expected to facilitate the flow of electricity and telecommunications between Victoria and Tasmania, enabling an efficient transfer of power from the areas where renewable energy is generated to those where it is needed.

Prysmian has been securing new assignments left and right and is expected to sign a formal contract for an energy transmission project by year-end to connect the island of Mallorca with the Spanish mainland.

The company recently celebrated an operation, said to be the industry’s first installation of an HVDC cable at a water depth of 2,150 meters, which is slated to be employed for the €1.7 billion Tyrrhenian Link, awarded in 2021 by Terna.