Nexans wins 100 million Euros power cable contract for the London Array offshore wind farm project
Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has won a contract worth approximately 100 million Euros to design, manufacture and supply the high voltage (HV) subsea power export cables that will connect the London Array wind farm to the UK grid. The contract was placed with Nexans by the consortium of DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar, which is currently building the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary. The London Array wind farm is being installed on a 233 km2 site located around 20 km off the UK coast. Construction is taking place in two phases: the first phase of 630 MW, consisting of 175 turbines, is expected to be completed and generating in 2012; the future second phase will add capacity to bring the total to 1,000 MW and will supply enough power for around 750,000 UK homes.
The power export cable contract comprises the design, manufacture and supply of four 150 kV XLPE submarine power cables to be laid in parallel, each 53 to 54 km in length, with three copper core conductors with a cross-section of 630 mm2 for the main length and 800mm² at each cable end. Nexans will deliver two of the cables in 2011, and two in 2012, all being delivered in single continuous lengths from Nexans’ factory in Halden. The cables will also incorporate fibre optic elementscable accessories such as repair joints and terminations. manufactured at the Nexans factory in Rognan, Norway. In addition, the contract also includes the
