Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian has secured three significant cable supply contracts from German transmission system operator Amprion, with a combined value of €5bn ($5.38bn).

The cable supply contracts are for Germany’s BalWin1 and BalWin2 offshore grid connection systems and the DC34 underground cable project.

The contract is the largest in both value and cable length ever awarded to Prysmian.

The contracts comprise 4,400km (3,400km on land and 1,000km subsea) of ±525kV high-voltage direct current cables.

Prysmian transmission division executive vice-president Hakan Ozmen stated: “The three contracts with Amprion are an important milestone for Prysmian as they underline once again the trusting cooperation between the two companies. We are glad to actively contribute as a reliable partner to the energy transition.”

Amprion chief technical officer Hendrik Neumann stated: “We have secured the necessary cable resources for three important energy transition projects. Contracts like the ones with Prysmian are essential to achieve our offshore expansion targets. For us, this is a major step towards project success.”

The awarding of these contracts follows Amprion’s announcement of Prysmian as the preferred bidder for the supply of cables for the three pivotal projects in August 2023.

The projects are crucial to Germany’s ambitious plan to install 70GW of offshore wind capacity by 2045.

The BalWin1 and BalWin2 projects are designed to transmit up to 2GW of energy each from future offshore wind farms in the German North Sea’s BalWin cluster.

The energy will be directed to grid connection points in Wehrendorf in Lower Saxony and Westerkappeln in North Rhine-Westphalia.

BalWin1 offshore grid connection is scheduled to become operational by 2029, followed by BalWin2 in 2030.

The DC34 project, which is part of the Rhein-Main-Link, will also facilitate the transmission of 2GW of wind energy.

It will connect a substation in Lower Saxony to another in the federal state of Hesse, delivering power to the Rhine-Main metropolitan area, a significant consumer hub.