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Sustainable Innovation: The Reusability of HVDC Cable Drums

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Sustainable Innovation: The Reusability of HVDC Cable Drums

In an evolving landscape of transmission infrastructure, optimizing resources and reducing environmental impact have become key priorities. One such initiative is the reutilization of HVDC cable drums, a concept first envisioned five years ago following the signing of the German HVDC cable projects contracts. For these projects Prysmian is responsible for manufacturing, delivering and installing 2.700 km of cable requiring around 2.000 drums for a full project's life. The scope of logistics includes designing and supplying the drums, transporting them from Prysmian’s centre of excellence for underground cable manufacturing in Gron and Montereau (France) to intermediate storage areas in Germany, and managing both the storage and subsequent transportation to installation sites as well as overseeing the reverse logistics.

 

Instead of designing drums specifically for each project, Prysmian opted for a reduced standard list, anticipating that more contracts would be awarded, and the drums could later be reused. The idea to reuse the HVDC cable drums not only streamlines logistics but also enhances sustainability by extending the lifecycle of essential materials. In this way, the same drum designs have been proposed in various bids, and we now sum a requirement of approximately 7.000 drums over 10 years of project execution covered by just 10 drum types. This standardization was essential to enable their rotation across projects.

“Redesigning the reverse flow was a step forward, as originally the drums would be scraped after their first use. In the new scenario, the drums are returned to Prysmian factories after being refurbished to maximize efficiency and minimize waste, but assuring the same condition of a new drum”

Raquel De Jesus Pasolini

Raquel De Jesus Pasolini

Transmission Logistics Manager at Prysmian

To support the execution of both flows - shipment of full and return of empty drums, the team relies on the Alesea trackers installed in every drum, the virtual assistant for cable inventory management. Besides providing online information on the drum location, it automatizes part of the flow by connecting the logistics partners through the “Smart PickUp” platform, facilitating the communication and accelerating the process.

 

The reusability project has proven to be not only more economical achieving around a 20% reduction in logistics costs but also fully aligned with Prysmian's mission for a greener supply chain. In addition to preventing the scrapping of approximately 70.000 tons of steel, primarily in Germany, the initiative is expected to reduce C0 emissions by 3.000 tons per year (a 35% decrease), based on a drum reusability rate of 30%.