Italian cable firm Prysmian carried out the €90m INELFE project o behalf of the Spanish grid operator, Red Electrica de España (REE), and its French counterpart Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE).
The project included a 320kV extruded HVDC underground cable and two 1000MW bipolar circuits along a 64km land route, with 8.6km in a purpose-built tunnel throughout the Pyrenees.
It connects substations in Baixas, near Perpignan in France, and Santa Llogaia, near Figueres in Spain.
Prysmian manufactured the cables at its facility in Gron, France.
Prysmian said INELFE was classified as a priority project by the European Union (EU) and was intended to increase the transmission capacity between France and Spain, to enhance diversification of sources and security of supply, as well as electricity market integration in South-West Europe.
The project will increase grid system stability and support the utilization of renewable energy in Spain.
Prysmian has recently commissioned the first and second HVDC offshore grid connections, BorWin2 and HelWin1.
A further two DC offshore grid connection projects, SylWin1 and HelWin2, and one DC land connection, Skagerrak 4, are about to complete with planned commercial operation in the first half of 2015.
The company is presently implementing the HVDC cable systems for the DolWin3 and BorWin3 projects.
Image: The INELFE project included a 320kV extruded HVDC underground cable and two 1000MW bipolar circuits. Photo: Courtesy of Prysmian Group.
