French cable manufacturer Nexans has reached a preferred supplier agreement (PSA) with Empire Offshore Wind to supply export cables for its offshore projects.
The contract covers the full design and manufacturing, along with the laying and protection of over 300km of export cables, which are expected to deliver renewable energy to more than one million homes.
Empire Offshore Wind is a 50/50 joint venture partnership between Equinor and BP, which is currently developing the Empire Wind projects in the US.
The projects are planned to cover an area of 80,000 acres, in federal waters, at an average distance of 33km south of Long Island, east of the Rockaways.
Nexans CEO Christopher Guérin said: “We are excited to be a trusted, long-term supplier on the development of the Empire Wind projects and to participate in placing New York State on the way towards reaching 70% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030.
“This partnership demonstrates the value of our unique end-to-end model and supports our investments in U.S. offshore wind and the new state of the art Aurora cable-laying vessel.
“Nexans is engaged in Electrifying the Future, and supporting all our stakeholders on the path to greener energy.”
Two cable systems will link the offshore substation for the 816MW Empire Wind 1 project to landfall and substation in Brooklyn, while the 1,260MW Empire Wind 2 project would link to Long Island by three parallel cables.
In June last year, Nexans was awarded a turnkey contract from SSE Renewables for high voltage (HV) onshore and offshore export cables for the Phase 1 of the Seagreen offshore wind farm with 1.07GW capacity.
The electricity produced at the offshore wind farm will be transmitted through the subsea export cables to landfall at Carnoustie.
