5/4/2022 -

Annual Meeting in Dallas to offer a return to sorely missed live gathering

On-line meetings were certainly better than no event, but it is safe say that the WAI welcomes the return to a live format for the annual meeting on Wednesday, June 8, which will honor the winners of three awards as well as present a timely keynote presentation.

The meeting element itself is brief as it is procedural, but the breakfast session will see the presentations of the Mordica Memorial Award to Anand Bhagwat, manager, quality and technology at Minova USA; the Donnellan Memorial Award to Richard Wagner, the senior vice president and COO of Insteel Industries; and the President’s Award to Joe Downes, a long-time Leggett & Platt executive who retired as senior v.p. in 2015.

The gathering will also include comments from Keynote speaker Ty Garrison, senior vice president of operations, Commercial Metals Co., whose theme feels very appropriate: “Leadership in a Volatile World.” He will discuss how the last few years have strained businesses across the globe as Covid forced companies to deal with events like virtual work, burn out, unprecedented supply chain disruptions and volatile markets. Such challenges test the leadership at every level of an organization, and are essential to master for companies to thrive.

The annual meeting will, as ever, serve as a good place for WAI members to gather.

5/4/2022 -

 Prysmian Group wins contract for Alaskan submarine fiber optic cable link project

The Prysmian Group reports that it has been awarded a contract from Alaska Power & Telephone Company (AP&T) to supply, install and test two submarine fiber optic cable links in southeast Alaska.

A press release said that the SEALink project, valued at nearly $20 million, is directed by AP&T’s subsidiary, AP&T Wireless (APTW). The goal is to improve

communications in southeast Alaska, bringing broadband to rural areas that are currently unserved. The SEALink project calls for a 214-mile submarine fiber optic cable from Alaska’s capital in Juneau to the Prince of Wales Island.

Under the terms of the turnkey contract, Prysmian will provide a 323-km MINISUB brand cable with 36 G.652.D FO. The cable will be produced at Prysmian’s Nordenham, Germany plant, one of the group’s three centers of excellence for submarine cable production. Delivery is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022, with provisional acceptance by end of 2022.The project is being managed by Projects BU.

“This is the second project with AP&T after the successful installation of the Lynn Channel Project in 2016,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU, Prysmian Group. “We are excited to be helping AP&T support the digital transition in these remote areas of Alaska.”

The project will bring high-speed broadband to the residents of Kasaan and Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island for the first time. It was made possible by a grant from the U.S. government’s Rural Utility Services. “We are honored to be entrusted with this prestigious contract by AP&T which underscores the trust and credibility our customers have for our products and capabilities on a worldwide basis,” said Ashutosh Bhargava, Global Business director Subsea Telecom of the Prysmian Group.

5/4/2022 -

Orient Cable has been awarded the Hollandse Kust West Beta export cable contract by TenneT, in consortium with Boskalis.

A press release said that the contract calls for the supply and installation of two 65-km-long export cables that will connect the planned Hollandse Kust West Beta 700 MW offshore wind farm to TenneT’s onshore grid in the Netherlands. The company will also supply a nine-km 66kV interconnector cable between the Hollandse Kust West Alpha and Hollandse Kust West Beta offshore substations.

Orient Cable is working with partner Boskalis, which will install the high-voltage cable system. The two 220kV AC cable circuits will come ashore near the existing onshore high-voltage substation at Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. The value of this contract was described as “sizable.”

Orient Cable will design, engineer, manufacture, test and transport the 220 kV XLPE-insulated export cables and associated accessories termination works. The subsea cables will be manufactured at Orient Cable’s plant in Ningbo, China, which it notes is the world’s largest cable manufacturing facility for the high and extra-high voltage subsea cables.

The Hollandse Kust West Beta offshore windfarm is expected to enter service in 2025. The project is a part of the Dutch national roadmap to achieve a 49% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.With this project and through its client TenneT, Orient Cable is supporting the decarbonizing by making renewable energy available in the Netherlands.