Prysmian receives permit for Vineyard Wind I cable system

Italy-based cable manufacturer Prysmian Group has been given a Notice to Proceed for supplying a submarine power cable system for the Vineyard Wind I offshore wind farm in the US.

The company will design, manufacture, install and commission a 134km high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) cable system consisting of two 220kV three-core cables with extruded cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation.

The €200m ($231m) contract was awarded to the company in May 2019 by Vineyard Wind, which is owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) funds and Avangrid Renewables.

Prysmian will produce the submarine cables at its centres of excellence in Pikkala, Finland, and Arco Felice, Italy.

The cable system project will be used for transporting renewable energy from the project to the mainland power grid.

Located offshore from Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind I features 62 wind turbines and has the capacity to generate 800MW of clean energy a year, enough to power more than 400,000 homes.

The project is said to be the US’s first large-scale offshore wind farm.

Prysmian’s cable-laying vessels, Cable Enterprise and Ulisse, will be used to install these cables.

The project is scheduled for delivery and commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Prysmian has also agreed to provide its PRY-CAM permanent monitoring technology, which is designed to offer in-depth information to help electrical asset owners enhance their life span and reduce maintenance costs and risks.

Prysmian Group Projects executive vice-president Hakan Ozmen said: “The resumption of the vineyard project confirms the acceleration of the United States towards the energy transition.

“Prysmian aims at playing a key role in the development and upgrade of power grid infrastructures to support the transition to renewable energy sources in the US.”

In a separate development, Prysmian has been contracted to supply HVDC cables for the SOO GREEN HVDC Link Project, which is described as a ‘key milestone’ in building a clean energy grid for the US.