50Hertz has signed project and framework contracts worth €4.6bn with NKT and Prysmian Group for the production and installation of submarine and land cables covering a total length of 3500km, with an option for an additional 2700km.
The award covers 525kV wires with a capacity of 2GW per system for line construction projects under Germany’s Bundesbedarfsplan or envisaged in the draft of the Netzentwicklungsplan 2037/2045 (2023).
“With these contracts, we are taking a major step towards enabling Germany to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2045,” said 50Hertz chief executive Stefan Kapferer,.
“High-capacity power lines – whether overhead lines, cables on the seabed or underground cables on land – are the backbone of the energy transition. Their production and installation require exceptional technological expertise.
“In NKT and Prysmian Group, we have two partners with whom we have already worked on other projects and who represent ‘Made in Europe’ quality. We look forward to the cooperation.”
Danish outfit NKT is responsible for five of seven projects with a volume of €3.5bn. In the Baltic Sea it will supply the cables for the offshore grid connection systems of the Ost-2-4 area (Ostwind 4) off the island of Rügen and for the German part of the Bornholm Energy Island project. It will also install wires on the seabed.
Bornholm Energy Island is being implemented by 50Hertz together with the Danish system operator Energinet.
In the North Sea, NKT is responsible for the implementation of the offshore grid connection project LanWin 6 (NOR-13-2 area) as well as the onshore HVDC project DC 32 (NordOstLink +) between the survey areas of Pöschendorf in Schleswig-Holstein and Klein Rogahn near Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
NKT has also been contracted for the SuedOstLink+ project. This extra-HVDC transmission line will start at Klein Rogahn and join with the SuedOstLink (SOL), which is about to begin construction, in Wolmirstedt near Magdeburg.
NKT is already responsible for the production and installation of cables for SOL.
Prysmian Power Link, an affiliate of Italian outfit Prysmian Group, wonbthe contract for a lot comprising the realisation of the offshore grid connection system LanWin 3 (NOR-11-1 area) in the North Sea comprising of both the supply and installation of the subsea cables and the eastern part of onshore DC 31 NordOstLink (NOL), which is to start from the Heide survey area in Schleswig-Holstein and run mostly on the same route as NOL +.
Engineering, production and installation of the cables are scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed with full commissioning in the mid-2030s.
In addition, 50Hertz has entered into a framework agreement for the supply and installation of an additional 2700 km of cable. Contracting parties for this framework agreement are both Prysmian and NKT.
NKT chief executive and president Claes Westerlind said: “This is a historic order and a major milestone for NKT and we are very excited to continue the collaboration with 50Hertz in their ambitious development of the 525kV HVDC transmission grid.
“We are looking forward to further strengthening this relationship, where we are currently executing the cable projects for the two SuedOstLink transmission lines and the offshore cable link Ostwind 2.
“With this record award, we confirm our strong position in the HVDC power cable market and continue to be a key supplier for the German Energiewende.”
Prysmian Power Link chief executive Hakan Ozmen added: “We are honoured to collaborate with 50Hertz on these important projects, confirming the group’s ongoing successful relationship.
“In the past years 50Hertz has awarded to Prysmian the power cable system for the offshore wind park cluster West of Adlergrund in the German Baltic Sea. Prysmian is proud to be contributing to the German ‘Energiewende’.”