5/4/2022 -

The Prysmian Group reports that it is keeping pace with executing its plan to invest some €1 billion by 2024, mainly targeted at developing businesses that support the energy transition.

A press release said that global trends for creating more power through renewable resources were fueling the company’s investment plans. “Development of the trans-European power grid plays a strategic role in decarbonization and in the transition to renewable sources, as well as in improving EU energy autonomy — an urgent need that has returned to the fore with the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” said Prysmian Group CEO Valerio Battista. “As a global leader in the cable industry, we have decided to increase investments chiefly in support of energy interconnection projects and connections for renewable sources.”

The investment plan seeks to consolidate the company’s approximately 35-40% share in the high voltage submarine and underground cable market, which per 2025 forecasts is projected to top  €8 billion a year in terms of projects awarded. In 2021, Prysmian acquired projects worth €4.8 billion.

The Group is accelerating its plan to build the first high-voltage submarine cable facility in Massachusetts, USA, which with an investment of approximately €200 million will be a hub of strategic importance for the development of the offshore wind power industry in the country.

Significant investments will be made in expanding the production capacity and technological equipment of the key excellence centers for power transmission submarine cables. An investment of over €80 million will go to the Arco Felice (Naples) plant, which will be expanded, including in view of the execution of the Tyrrhenian Link interconnection. An investment of over €100 million will go to Pikkala (Finland) center of excellence for Northern Europe, particularly focused on offshore wind farm cabling projects, as well as to the Gron plant in France for the production of the German HVDC cable projects. The current submarine cable production structure is rounded out by the plants in Nordenham, Germany, and Drammen, Norway.

Another investment was in the Leonardo da Vinci, the world’s largest cable-laying vessel, which required an investment exceeding €170 million. Built by the Vard Group (Fincantieri), the vessel will expedite the time needed to complete submarine interconnection projects, while also decreasing their environmental impact. The Group’s fleet of cable-laying vessels also includes in addition to the new barge Barbarossa. Moreover, in addition to the Arco Felice (Naples) base, it can also count on the Middlesbrough operating base in Great Britain.

In terms of technical advances, Prysmian notes that its 525 kV P-Laser cable system, offers unparalleled efficiency in energy transmission and an innovative aramid-armored cable for submarine depths of up to 3,000 meters. Another innovation has been the development of digital devices for power grid monitoring, an area in which Prysmian is on the cutting edge with the PRY-CAM technology. Following the integration of the acquired Omnisens with Prysmian Electronics, the Group created the new EOSS Division with the objective of further developing this promising niche market capacity expansion at the Italian, Finnish and French plants.