Prysmian’s Cable Enterprise begins installing Spanish interconnector

Prysmian Group’s cable-laying vessel Cable Enterprise has begun the cable-laying operations for a new submarine power interconnection in Spain.

The Italian cabling giant reported on 9 January that the cable layer started work for the new electricity link between Ibiza and Formentera, awarded by Spanish transmission system operator (TSO) Red Eléctrica.

According to Prysmian, the project will make it possible to cover 100 per cent of the energy demand of the smallest of the Pityuses, facilitating the energy transition by reducing CO2 emissions.

The interconnection project between Ibiza and Formentera includes the deployment of two 132 kV links between the new substation in Formentera and the existing Torrent substation in Ibiza, which is being enlarged.

The link has an underwater section of 27.15 kilometers and will run at a maximum depth of 62 metres, while the land section is 5.26 kilometers long in Ibiza and 4.8 kilometers in Formentera.

With a budget of €95.8 million, the new link is set to strengthen the security of supply for the island of Formentera, currently linked to Ibiza by a 30 kV double-circuit electricity link, as well as enable the island’s electricity demand to be supplied in a stable and secure manner at all times.

In the summer of 2022, Prysmian won two contracts worth approximately €250 million from Red Eléctrica for the development of two submarine power interconnections in Spain.

The company is in charge of the design, supply, installation and commissioning of the subsea power cable for an interconnection between the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera, and for an interconnection between the Spanish mainland and Ceuta, a Spanish city on the north coast of Africa.

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