Nexans bags Hadselfjord cabling contract

Nexans has secured a contract from Norway’s Statnett to supply and install a new high-voltage subsea power link crossing Hadselfjord in the far north of the country.

The current Hadselfjord cable, installed in 1977, has exceeded its technical design life.

The project aims to further boost electricity supply for around 50,000 people in the Lofoten and Vesterålen island archipelagos.

Specifically, Nexans will upgrade the link by installing two 170 kV submarine cable systems.

The cable route covers approximately 8.8 kilometres at a maximum water depth of 200 metres.

According to Elisabeth V. Vardheim, Statnett‘s executive VP; “The Hadselfjord project will strengthen the security of supply in the region and facilitate future electrification and developments. The cable contract is the most crucial part of this project, and we are looking forward to work together with Nexans on this.”

The cable route extends across Hadselfjord between Fiskebøl and Melbu in Vesterålen.

The EPCI contract comprises engineering, procurement, construction as well as installation of the cable systems based on Nexans cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) subsea cable technology.

The three-core cables will have an integrated fiber-optic element for both communication and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS).

The contract also includes single-core XLPE underground cables for the land-based sections of the link, together with accessories such as cable terminations, cable joints, earthing systems and anti-corrosion systems.

Nexans will manufacture the Hadselfjord cables at its specialised subsea cable factory in Halden, Norway. The fiber optic elements come from Nexans’ own plant in Rognan in the north of Norway.

The cables have a design lifetime of 40 years and installation should commence in 2022.