Prysmian puts first subsea cable in place for eastern piece of Italy’s electricity interconnection

Italy’s cabling giant Prysmian Group has confirmed the wrap-up of the installation works for the first submarine cable of the eastern branch of an electricity interconnection between Campania, Sicily, and Sardinia.

Described as one of Italy’s most significant electrical infrastructures, the 970-kilometer, 1,000 MW Tyrrhenian Link encompasses two sections: the east one from Sicily to Campania and the west part from Sicily to Sardinia.

Terna, Italy’s transmission system operator (TSO), which disclosed an investment of around €3.7 billion for this project, picked Prysmian and Nexans among the companies hired to work on bringing the subsea link to life by supplying the cables for the project.

The Italian TSO and Prysmian have explained that work on laying the first submarine cable of the eastern section of the Tyrrhenian Link, which will connect Sicily and Campania, is now over, with around 490 kilometers of cable installed in just over two months.

This began from Fiumetorto in the municipality of Termini Imerese (Sicily) to Torre Tuscia Magazzeno in the municipality of Battipaglia (Campania) in February 2025, with the laying taking place in two phases to breathe life into this subsea cable link connecting the Italian mainland with Sicily and Sardinia.

The first cable segment, with a length of 260 kilometers, was completed in March, while the second, which is 230 kilometers long, got underway in April. The end of laying operations was celebrated with an event onboard Prysmian’s Leonardo Da Vinci cable laying vessel (CLV).

According to Terna, civil works are proceeding on the sites that will host the conversion stations in Eboli (Salerno) and Termini Imerese. The new conversion station of Selargius (Cagliari) is being constructed in Sardinia. The west section construction sites began in July 2024.

The land/sea excavation activities are currently underway in the Fiumetorto landing site (Termini Imerese) and the completion activities to move the Cornelius Aqueduct (Palermo) in the area where the electric substation will be built.

Raul Gil, EVP Transmission BU of Prysmian, highlighted: “We are proud to collaborate once again with Terna on this ambitious project that strengthens the Italian electrical infrastructure and promotes the energy transition.”

Tyrrhenian Link, for which a deal for the final tranche of the €1.9 billion financing was signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB), is scheduled to be fully operational in 2028. Given its transmission capacity, the project is anticipated to contribute to achieving decarbonization goals while boosting the security of the Italian and European electricity grids.

Italy has set its cap on expanding its electricity arsenal. To this end, Terna is pooling resources with Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) to progress the development of a second high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Italy and Greece.

This new submarine power link will operate in parallel with the existing 500 MW interconnection, which has been in service since 2002.