French cables manufacturer Nexans has secured 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.
Under the contract, Nexans will design, manufacture and install the HV cables for the Seagreen offshore wind farm to be located 27km off the coast of Angus.
Work on the wind farm is expected to begin next year and when completed in 2022/23, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in Scotland, generating enough renewable energy to power 1 million Scottish homes.
The cable-maker said that its factory in Charleston, South Carolina, will supply the three 65km long offshore export cables. The facility was recently expanded to manufacture HV subsea power cables.
The three 20km onshore export cables will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Charleroi, Belgium.
The electricity generated at the offshore wind farm will be transmitted through the subsea export cables to landfall at Carnoustie.
Once ashore, the land cables will transmit the electricity to a new substation at Tealing from where it will be fed into the UK’s national electricity transmission system.
Nexans subsea and land system business group executive vice president Ragnhild Katteland said: “We are delighted to receive this contract from SSE Renewables and we are excited to help bring the biggest windfarm in Scotland to life. This confirms Nexans’ position as a strategic partner highly involved in the global energy transition.”
Nexans will use its new vessel Aurora for laying the cables
The company will deploy Aurora, its new cable laying vessel (CLV) for the project. The vessel is presently under construction and will be delivered in the second quarter of next year.
Seagreen project director John Hill said: “We are pleased to have Nexans expertise on the Seagreen project as Nexans is a world leader in the supply and installation of subsea power cables.”
Recently, French oil and gas company Total has entered into an agreement with SSE Renewables to acquire a 51% stake in Seagreen 1 offshore wind farm project.
