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TRADE & INSTALLERS
In the Trade & Installers business area,
the Group has been very active in Italy’s
construction sector in connection with new
infrastructure projects for the Universal
Exhibition in Milan, Expo 2015.
Prysmian will cable the site hosting
the Universal Exposition’s services and
structures, the so-called “Piastra” (Service
Areas). The contract is for the supply of
50 km of P-Laser high-performance eco-
sustainable medium voltage cables, as well
as 300 km of low voltage cables from the
Afumex range, which, in the event of fire,
combine reduced flame spread with very low
emission of irritant and corrosive gases.
During the year the Group was also awarded
contracts to supply low and medium voltage
Afumex cables for installation along new
stretches of the BreBeMi motorway, linking
Milan and Brescia, and the Pedemontana
Lombarda motorway, in the belt around the
Expo site.
Another contract relates to the supply
of special fire-safety, eco-friendly power
distribution cables for the Isozaki Tower,
under construction in the new Citylife
district of Milan. Designed by Japanese
architect Arata Isozaki, the eponymous
Tower will exceed 200 metres in height to
become one of Italy’s tallest buildings. The
Isozaki Tower is one of the iconic images of
Expo 2015.
Several T&I contracts were also won in the
United Kingdom. These included the cabling
of the 13,000 capacity First Direct Arena in
Leeds, which has been installed with FP200
Gold fire-resistant cables.
INDUSTRIAL
In the Industrial business area, in March
the Group announced a project in the
Military & Defence sector to supply the
new US aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Gerald R.
Ford, with 15 kV medium voltage cables
and optical fibre cables. The 15 kV power
cable, specially developed by Prysmian
for use in this class of ships, is a vital
part of the new electrical system that has
three times the capacity of other aircraft
carriers.
In October, a major frame agreement
was signed with Petrobras, the Brazilian
oil company, worth around USD 260
million for the design and supply of
umbilical systems for use in offshore
oil extraction. Petrobras also extended
to 2016 the existing frame agreement
for flexible pipes, for a total of USD
95 million, of which USD 20 million in
orders have already been placed for the
Macabu, Jubarte and Marlim Leste fields.
The confirmation of the technical and
commercial partnership with Petrobras,
in place for more than 35 years, is an
important step forward in expanding the
Group’s range of oil industry products and
services.
Among other projects was the
inauguration, in October, of Iberdrola’s
“Cortes - La Muela” hydroelectric power
station, the largest in Spain and one of
the biggest in Europe. Prysmian Group has
supplied extra high and medium voltage
power cables, instrumentation and control
cables, as well as the related accessories.
In the Telecom business, the Group
completed a major investment with the
expansion of its factory in Slatina, Romania,
which has become one of Europe’s new
centres of excellence for optical cables for
the telecom industry.
The Slatina plant has just celebrated
its 40th anniversary, having started its
manufacturing activity in 1973 with the
production of energy cables and having
enlarged in 2009 with the first module
to produce optical fibre cables. The plant
occupies a site of almost 100,000 m
2
. It
employs more than 400 people and has
an annual production capacity for 30,000
tonnes of energy cables (from High Voltage
cables up to 110kV and building wires,
to Instrumentation, Control and Power
Distribution cables), for nearly 1,500,000 km
of optical cables and 500,000 km of copper
telecom cables (covering almost all the
demand for both optical and copper cables).
The investment in the new plant is part of
a major project to further strengthen the
Group’s global competitiveness in an ever-
evolving industry. Today Prysmian is a world
leader in the field of telecommunication
cables, with 11%market share and 24
manufacturing facilities around the globe.
In terms of technological innovation, in
June the Group presented the new range
of nano loose tube cables. These products,
with smaller diameter and increased fibre
density, allow up to 192 fibres to be inserted
into standard 10/12 mm ducts and up to 96
fibres into standard 8/10 mm ducts.
Telecom Business
