Spain: Nexans Secures EUR 90 M Contract to Build Submarine Cable Between Mallorca and Ibiza

Nexans, a worldwide leading expert in the cable industry, has been awarded a turnkey contract worth in excess of 90 million euros by REE (Red Eléctrica de España), the operator of the Spanish power system and the owner of the power transmission grid, to create a new 115 km high-voltage (HV) submarine power link between the Islands of Mallorca and Ibiza.

This project forms part of the set of investments that REE is making in order to interconnect the Balearic Islands with the Iberian Peninsula so as to guarantee and improve the reliability of the electricity supply on the Islands. This principal goal also brings together the efficiency, saving and reduction of emissions.

Earlier in 2011, REE commissioned the ROMULO project, a 400 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Spain’s 400 kV grid and Mallorca, for which Nexans manufactured, supplied and installed 240 km of DC submarine cables. In this new contract, Nexans will extend the connection to Ibiza by constructing a 132 kV AC submarine cable featuring state-of-the-art XLPE insulation. The 100 MW link will establish two world records for both the longest 3-core high-voltage AC connection and the deepest, at an installation depth of 750 metres.

We are delighted to have been awarded this prestigious contract to help REE further reinforce the power infrastructure in the Balearic Islands,” said Dirk Steinbrink, Executive Vice President High Voltage & Underwater Cables Business Group. “Building on the success of the earlier ROMULO DC project, this new AC cable contract is a perfect illustration of Nexans’ proven capability to design, manufacture, install, protect and commission turnkey HV submarine cable systems to meet virtually any customer requirement for AC or DC technology, voltage, length or installation depth.”

The submarine cable will be manufactured at the specialized Nexans facility in Halden, Norway and will incorporate fibre optic elements produced at the Rognan facility in Norway. In addition to the 115 km subsea cable, the project will include 24 km of single-core HV land cable from the Nexans factory in Charleroi, Belgium together with accessories from Nexans Cossonay in Switzerland.

Nexans’ own cable ship, the C/S Nexans Skagerrak, will play a key role in the project as its 7,000 tons capacity turntable offers a unique capability to deliver and install the submarine cable as a single length. This eliminates any need for subsea joints and therefore increases the reliability of the cable system.

The submarine cable will be transported and installed by Nexans’ own cable ship, the C/S Nexans Skagerrak. It will be buried in the seabed, using the CapJet system, and mechanical trenching. Installation and commissioning should take place between 2013 and 2014.

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Subsea World News Staff , December 20, 2011;  Image: Nexans