The Prysmian Group has been awarded a new contract by Ørsted Wind Power A/S to supply inter-array submarine cables for the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, located 160 km off the Yorkshire coast, U.K.

A press release said that the project—subject to a final procedural confirmation from Ørsted—calls for approximately 280 km of 66 kV inter-array cables with XLPE insulation. The order from Ørsted, a repeat customer, will cover about half of the overall wind farm’s requirements.

The Prysmian Group will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, termination and testing of the inter–array submarine cable system that will connect the wind turbines and the offshore converter station. All the submarine cable cores will be produced at the Group’s centers of excellence located in Montereau and Gron, France, while the armoring and assembling processes will be performed at the plant in Nordenham, Germany. The cables are due to be delivered in 2026. Once constructed, the site will be able to supply green, renewable electricity to more than three million homes.

“This award reflects Ørsted’s trust in Prysmian’s capabilities to meet the increasing need of submarine cable systems to support the energy transition to smarter and greener power grids,” said Juliano De Mello, sales team manager offshore wind, Prysmian Group. “We are very pleased and proud for having been chosen again to undertake such a challenging project supporting Ørsted to meet the U.K. Government’s ambition to deliver 50 GW of offshore wind power by 2030 as part of the British Energy Security Strategy.”

In 2018, Ørsted awarded Prysmian Group the contract for the 66 kV inter–array submarine cable system for the Hornsea 2 offshore wind farm. That project connected 110 of the 165 wind turbines and the offshore substation platform.

“After working successfully with Prysmian on the Hornsea 2 project, we are delighted to work together again on Hornsea 3,” said Luke Bridgman, senior project director for Hornsea 3. “The project represents another leap forward in terms of the size and scale of offshore wind farms, and collaborations with world-class manufacturers such as Prysmian are crucial to executing the project successfully.

Kris-Tech Wire, a supplier of wire and cable to the building, commercial and utility industries, recently broke ground at its location in Rome, New York, where the company plans to expand its operations, doubling the facility’s production, warehouse and office space.

Per published reports, the Kris-Tech Wire expansion is part of a multi-year campaign to expand operations and product lines into emerging markets. “We’re excited to

continue investing in our people, customers, and community,” President and CEO Graham Brodock said in a press release announcing the project. “This expansion is a statement of our belief in our business and team, and we look forward to yet another one soon.”

When construction ends in early 2024, the Otis Street building will house several added production lines, including Kris-Tech’s recently expanded tray cable division, stocking and storage areas, training rooms and more. The expansion project will also bring a nearby production facility back to Rome. Last year, the company opened a stocking facility in Houston, Texas. A third-generation, family-owned business, Kris-Tech Wire was founded in 1984 by twin brothers Gerry and Glenn Brodock.

Hellenic Cables has been awarded a contract from TenneT for the turnkey delivery of approximately 36 km of HVAC offshore grid connection cables for offshore wind farms to be developed in zones (N-3.7 and N-3.8) in Germany.

A press release said that the project, being done in partnership with the Jan De Nul Group, is for the cabling that will connect the wind farms to the DolWin kappa converter station, from where HVDC cables transfer the produced energy to shore. Hellenic Cables will be responsible for designing, manufacturing, supplying, terminating, and testing of three 155kV HVAC grid connection cables and associated accessories.

Manufacturing is planned for 2025 in Hellenic Cables’ submarine cable plant in Corinth, Greece, and delivery is expected in Q3 2025. The Jan De Nul Group will handle the cable transportation, laying and protection works. A single cable will be installed between zone N-3.7 and the DolWin kappa converter, covering a length of 16.5 km. The N-3.8 zone will connect to the converter station by two cables, each about 10 km long.

Hellenic Cables is part of Cenergy Holdings, which itself is a subsidiary of Viohalco SA, a Belgian-based holding company that specializes in manufacturing aluminum, copper, cables, steel and steel pipes.

MW Components has acquired Western Wire Products Company (Western Wire), a wire forming manufacturer with a storied history.

A press release said that the acquisition bolsters the scope of MW Components, which is active in the spring and wire forming industry. Its holdings include Century Spring, Fox Valley Spring, Maryland Precision Spring and over a dozen other locations that produce precision metal components. 

The addition of Western Wire will result in an increased selection of stock, standard, and custom wire forms including cotter pins, hitch pins, spring pins and an array of highly engineered precision metal components. “We are thrilled that Western Wire is joining the MW Components portfolio and hope to strengthen Western Wire’s service and 100+ year history of entrepreneurship.”

The Western Wire website spells out the company’s rich history of the business that was owned by members of the Young family for more than a century before being bought out in 2016 by its CFO, Michael Basler. Below are just two innovations it cites.

Western Wire Products Company was a “family business” even before its 1914 incorporation in St. Louis, Missouri. The company’s origins date back to 1907 when the uncle of its founders invented a machine that made woven wire fabric. The patent on this machine is considered by some historians to be the original precursor to today’s chain link fence.

In 1912, family inventor Ira J. Young, under a different company name (Wire Manufacturing Products) applied for a patent on a machine for forming split pins, later to be known as Cotter Pins. That business later became part of Western Wire, which serves customers in all parts of the U.S., and exports to Europe, South America, Mexico, Asia, Australia, and Canada.

Taihan Electric Wire (TEW)N announced that it has won a significant power grid project to boost electricity service to Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait.

 A press release said that the order from the Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water & Renewable Energy (MEW) is for an extra-high voltage power grid turnkey project valued at in excess of $65 million. The order calls for building an underground power grid between existing substations to help meet electricity demand in Kuwait City. TEW will supply materials such as 300 kV extra-high voltage cables and connectors, and perform power grid design, installation, connection and testing all at once.

The release noted that the bidding conditions were very stringent, and for the 300-400 kV EHV power grids, “only a handful of European and Japanese companies are qualified to bid.” It noted that TEW, which has successfully completed a number of ultra-high voltage turnkey projects ordered by the Kuwait Water and Electricity Authority, “won the project through fierce competition with leading global companies based on its project execution capabilities and technological prowess.”

In other news, the company notes that it has started construction of a factory that will be the first optical cable production corporation in Kuwait. The goal is to complete the construction by the end of the year.