Production of the cables started in September last year at Prysmian’s Arco Felice factory near Naples, Italy, and is currently on schedule.
The project has recently achieved its first important milestones, including factory acceptance test for the first cable that Prysmian started producing last year, and the completion of the final horizontal directional drilling (HDD) on the UK coast to prepare for the installation.
"Next year we are going to start the installation. The first section will be done by the Cable Enterprise Laying Vessel during summer, then the installation will continue with the Leonardo da Vinci vessel toward the year end. Other installations campaigns are scheduled up to the 2027, involving Leonardo Da Vinci and Ulisse Vessels"
Prysmian Project Director for NeuConnect project
This 1400 MW cable link will connect Europe’s two largest energy markets, promoting the efficient use and integration of renewable energy generation resources in Germany and the UK. The NeuConnect link will be able to transmit power bi-directionally for up to 1.5 million homes and will provide a major energy transmission infrastructure that will contribute to the wider European goals for increased availability of economically beneficial, sustainable, and secure electrical power.
Its route runs between the UK converter station on the Isle of Grain in Kent and through British, Dutch and German waters, landing in Lower Saxony in Germany and connecting to the converter station near Wilhelmshaven.
A key focus for the project is to make sure the supply chain can keep up with planned requirements given the intense demand in the market right now.
“The supply chain is one of the most critical aspects when you are dealing with such significant projects, with high quality expectations and a demanding schedule,” said Galletta. “The market is developing with us, and it can be tight”.
On this project, Prysmian is working with a new type of client. NeuConnect is an entity established and financed by a pool of investors such as France’s Meridiam, Germany’s Allianz Capital Partners and Japan’s Kansai Electric Power and TEPCO. As one of the first project-financed interconnectors, NeuConnect is different from the typical Customers Prysmian dealt with on this market segment.
The financial close demonstrates that major energy infrastructure projects are attractive for financial investors, but it has involved some new ways of operating and building new relationships for Prysmian.
“We have successfully set up a productive working relationship with NeuConnect”
Prysmian Project Manager for NeuConnect cable manufacturing
She added that the customer is being kept updated on the progress of cable production and regularly visiting Arco Felice plant, where they’re always welcomed by the factory team, and so far the relationship is proceeding well.
“One of the challenges is that Prysmian has responsibility of permitting and we are addressing three different countries with three different bodies of authorities (UK, Germany and the Netherlands). And in each country, there is more than one authority to interface with”
Prysmian Project Manager for NeuConnect offshore scope
A further challenge presented to Prysmian is to manage directly and for the first time in such large scale the full scope of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Identification and Clearance, i.e. to locate and remove any threat caused by explosives left on site during World War II. . An external dedicated consultant and a specialized contractor have been hired to support Prysmian in identifying and locate risks to be avoided or addressed during the project execution.
“We anticipate a range of different types of ordnance along the subsea cable route that will need to be identified and removed,” said Colombo.
Prysmian is working to the highest sustainability standards, and has set a health and safety target of zero lost time injuries (LTI).
As sustainability is one of the pillars of Prysmian’s approach to projects, we are also going to work actively and closely with NeuConnect to enhance the engagement of local communities in areas nearby the sites, and this will surely strengthen our cooperation with the client and with the other stakeholders”, added Lubna Gemey. As an example of this Prysmian is involved in one of NeuConnect’s initiatitives with local schools aimed at getting young children, particularly girls, interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers.
“Prysmian also supports training initiatives such as the Behavioural Based Safety Programme, specifically studied for the Site Operatives with the aim to increase the awareness on safety, encouraging them to always keep a safety-oriented attitude on the daily routines”, concluded Massimo Galletta.
