Prysmian lands $1.3bn deal for the first interconnector between UK and Germany
Italian cabling giant Prysmian has won a contract worth around €1.2bn ($1.33bn) from NeuConnect Britain Limited and NeuConnect Deutschland GmbH for the turn-key design, manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning of a 725 km submarine interconnector that will directly link the German and UK electricity grids for the first time.
The 1.4 GW NeuConnect interconnector is a privately financed project developed by a group of international investors that include Meridiam, Allianz Capital Partners and Kansai Electric Power, and is contingent on the successful tendering of the converter station and financing agreements for the project.
“When completed in the coming years, NeuConnect will join the world’s longest interconnectors,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP projects at Prysmian. “Moreover, it is one of the first interconnectors to be financed through a project financing arrangement, demonstrating that the major infrastructure projects needed to deliver the sustainable energy goals in Europe are supported by private investment.”
The project will deliver the cable connection along a route that runs between the UK converter station located on the Isle of Grain in Kent, passing through UK, Dutch and German waters to the landing point in Lower Saxony in Germany to connect with the converter station near Wilhelmshaven.
Prysmian will provide the complete cable system. The submarine and land power cables will be manufactured at Prysmian’s centre of excellence at Arco Felice factory near Naples, Italy. Offshore installation activities will involve three of the group’s own cable laying vessels including Leonardo da Vinci, Cable Enterprise, and Ulisse. Commissioning of the project is scheduled in the second half of the decade.
The NeuConnect project joins the latest record-breaking awards to the Prysmian group and follows projects such as Viking Link, the connection currently under installation between Denmark and UK, as well as the recent successful awards of the major framework contract by Terna developing a more robust power grid in Italy and the strategic link connecting Saudi Arabia and Egypt by SEC and EETC respectively.
