Nexans has been awarded a contract worth around €100m by French grid operator RTE to supply and install cables for the 496MW Le Treport offshore wind farm.
The contract comprises 47km of offshore and 18km of onshore export cable for the wind farm, which is located more than 15.5km from Le Tréport and 17km from Dieppe.
The consortium Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Treport is developing the offshore wind farm.
RTE has been appointed by the French government to connect the wind farm from the offshore substation to the onshore power grid by installing two subsea and onshore links.
For the subsea section, Nexans will supply two 23.5km lengths of 225kV three-core cable.
The cable has hybrid armouring and incorporates a fibre-optic element to remotely monitor the health of the link and transmit information between the offshore wind farm and the onshore base.
The cables will be laid by the CS Skagerrak, one of Nexans’ two cable laying vessels.
The onshore link will consist of 18 km of 225 kV single-core cable, similar to that supplied to RTE by Nexans under the current framework contract for onshore cables.
Nexans will also be in charge of the cable burial and protection for the onshore section.
The awarded contract includes business continuity services (inspection, maintenance, repair) for the entire project.
“Two years after the award of the contract for the supply and installation of 225 kV power export cables for the St Brieuc wind farm, we welcome Nexans’ success in this new tender.
“In view of the elements provided, RTE is confident that this new collaboration will bring value to the French power grid and be a source of productivity and continuous improvement for both companies”, said Gilles Etheimer, RTE’s purchasing director.
Nexans’ Halden plant in Norway will manufacture the subsea cables, while the land cables will come from the Nexans plant in Charleroi, Belgium.
The fibre-optic elements will be supplied from the Norwegian site in Rognan.
The installation of the subsea cables should start in the second half of 2024.