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In 2014, the Energy Products segment carried out
some tactical capital investments to support the
development of promising markets, with a scope
beyond just buildings, including: the transportation industry,
from the sea to the skies; the oil and gas industries; and the
elevator and renewables industries, to position it at the very
top end of the market.
Tactical spending to support markets
Cable Enterprise fully geared
for offshore connections
Among 2014’s major achievements there was the upgrade of
the Cable Enterprise cable-laying ship, which will significantly
improve the Group’s submarine project execution capabilities.
The Cable Enterprise vessel has been
fully geared for offshore wind farms
interconnections as the Group has invested
in its conversion from a moored cable-
laying barge into a DP2 cable-laying barge
that is able to use its own propulsion within
the work site. By in-sourcing much of the
installation work, Prysmian gained more
comprehensive control over the supply chain
and extended its installation range to the MV
sector, such as inter-array cable installation
between turbines. The vessel will now
operate autonomously without the need of
tugs during cable laying and will have a total
of 9.2MW of power supplying six thrusters.
Upgrade works included new decks for
accommodation and operational areas, and
a new cable tank for future HVDC projects.
Most importantly, the vessel retained its
ability to ground out and operate in shallow
waters.
2014 saw major capital expenditure by the Telecom
business segment. This included funds to upgrade the
optical fibre plant of Sorocaba in Brazil, where a plan to
improve quality was also implemented over the past two years;
and to increase production capacity at the plant in Slatina, in
Romania, confirming it as one of Europe’s centres of excellence
for optical cables.
Telecom capex in Brazil and Romania