Prysmian picks up new electricity interconnection job to link Mallorca with Spain’s mainland power grid

With a letter of award (LoA) in hand, Italy’s cable giant Prysmian is anticipating to pen a formal contract for an energy transmission project by year-end to connect the island of Mallorca with the Spanish mainland.  

Following the letter of award for Peninsula-Baleares 2 interconnection in Spain, Prysmian will hold exclusive negotiation talks on the contract with Red Eléctrica, the transmission system operator (TSO) of the Spanish electricity system, and expects the signing of the deal by the end of 2024. The value of the project is forecasted to surpass €0.5 billion.

Hakan Ozmen, EVP Transmission at Prysmian, commented: “Prysmian has strengthened its leading role in development interconnections thanks to the second Baleares Peninsula project, as we continue to enable increasingly efficient and sustainable power transmission grids in the Mediterranean area.

“We will carry out this project using the same consolidated MI cable technology which was previously deployed in the Peninsula Baleares 1 installation, and the letter of award also reflects the continued long-lasting relationship with Red Electrica, as Prysmian had previously been awarded projects including the Ibiza-Formentera, Lanzarote-Fuerteventura, Tenerife –La Gomera and Ceuta-Peninsula connections in recent years.”

The Italian giant, which will handle the design, installation, testing, and commissioning of two high voltage direct current (HVDC) 250 kV MI single-core cables, will also be in charge of fiber optic cable for telecom and monitoring purposes.

The project, which will connect the island of Mallorca with the Spanish mainland power grid, covering both the submarine and land section, is anticipated to reinforce the quality and security of the Balearic Islands’ electricity supply, ensuring coverage of the demand on the islands.

One of Prysmian’s recent milestones entails what is 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.

The Italian giant has been hired to design, supply, and install more than 1,500 kilometers of submarine cables to support the power exchange among Sardinia, Sicily, and Campania, through a project envisioned to reinforce the Mediterranean energy hub.