CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS >
DIRECTORS’ REPORT
42
| 2013 ANNUAL REPORT | PRYSMIAN GROUP
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING THE YEAR
UTILITIES – SUBMARINE
CABLES
During the year, the Group secured several
new contracts, mainly in the Utilities
business area.
In the submarine interconnections market,
Prysmian was awarded two new contracts
in February, worth a total of approximately
Euro 45 million for the Normandie3
interconnector that will transmit electricity
to Jersey in the Channel Islands from the
French mainland. This is the third such
interconnector to be installed as part of a
major ten-year investment programme by
Jersey Electricity to upgrade its transmission
grid infrastructure.
In April, the Group renewed its commitment
in the sea of Spain with a contract
worth approximately Euro 85 million for
the second circuit of the Majorca-Ibiza
interconnection, which will be integrated
into the mainland’s electricity grid through
the existing “Romulo” link, previously built
by Prysmian.
In May, a contract was signed worth more
than USD 100 million to supply and install
submarine cables for a part of ExxonMobil
Corporation’s offshore operations in the
United States. The project involves replacing
approximately 50 km of power cables with
new cables designed for depths up to 450
metres. The cables will supply electricity
from shore-based generating stations to
offshore oil platforms.
In Italy, the Group announced an agreement
in September for the first submarine cable
link between the island of Capri and Torre
Annunziata (Naples). The contract, worth
some Euro 70 million, is part of a wider
project planned by the customer Terna
S.p.A.. This project, known as the “Insula
Project”, aims to connect the main Italian
islands - Sardinia, Sicily, Elba, the islands of
the Gulf of Naples, the Venetian Lagoon - to
the mainland, using high-tech submarine
cables.
In the field of submarine connections for
offshore wind farms, two major projects
warrant attention. In February, Prysmian
was awarded a major contract worth more
than Euro 350 million by TenneT, an operator
of grids in The Netherlands and Germany,
for the DolWin3 interconnection in Germany
that will connect offshore wind farms in the
North Sea to mainland Germany. The Group
will supply a cable system for this project
with record carrying capacities: 900 MW of
power and voltage of 320 kV DC.
The following month, another contract
worth more than Euro 50 million was
signed for the connection of the Deutsche
Bucht offshore wind farm in Germany. This
is the twelfth project that the Group has
been awarded in connection with plans to
develop renewable energy in the North Sea,
confirming its role as a strategic partner in
this industry.
UTILITIES – UNDERGROUND
CABLES
In the field of underground power
transmission and distribution, an important
milestone was reached in 2013 with the
commissioning of the first electrical
system using high voltage P-Laser cable.
Produced up until now for medium
voltage applications, P-Laser is the first
high-performance eco-sustainable cable
for electrical grids, that is made with
recyclable raw materials. The first 150 kV
system, for a section approximately 5 km
long, was commissioned in August in the
province of Milan, Italy, for Terna S.p.A.. A
real milestone, it represents the first step
towards a radical change in the way that the
global electrical system operates, offering
many benefits to all users in coming years
in terms of efficiency, quality and security
of supply.
On the occasion of the Italy-Russia summit
held in Trieste in November, Prysmian
Group signed a technological cooperation
agreement with JSC “Rosseti”, Russia’s
largest grid operator, to develop power
transmission and distribution technology
in Russia. The agreement involves a
programme of information exchange in
order to analyse and develop solutions for
high voltage power transmission systems
of up to 500 kV. As part of a USD 55 million
investment in the Russian market to start
local production of medium and high voltage
cables, Prysmian has recently inaugurated
a new factory in Rybinsk in the Yaroslavl
region, completing another step in its
expansion plans in this country.
NEW INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES
Numerous important new contracts won for submarine interconnections. Major involvement
of the Group in Italy in Expo 2015 projects. Significant investment completed in Romania
with expansion of the factory in Slatina.
Energy Business
