General – Cable System
Prysmian Group has been awarded a contract worth in the region of €850 million by Eastern Green Link 1 to provide the cable systems for a major UK network development project between Scotland and England.
The award of the EGL1 follows the selection of Prysmian as the exclusive preferred bidder earlier this year and a subsequent commitment made to assure Prysmian Group’s continued capacity availability.
Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) will form a vital electricity transmission link between Torness in East Lothian, Scotland and Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England and is the first contracted cable system in the UK to utilise 525 kV HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) technology with extruded XLPE insulation.
With a power transmission capacity of 2 GW, Prysmian shall design, manufacture, install, test and commission the required HVDC cable system, delivering nearly 400 km power cable needed for the 194 km route between the two countries. The majority 176 km portion of the route shall be installed offshore in the North Sea with onshore sections of around 8 km and 10 km in Scotland and England respectively.
Prysmian will provide HVAC cable systems along a ca. 5 km route in Scotland, to connect the converter station at Torness with the grid substation near Branxton, requiring 30 km of 400 kV XLPE insulated cable, and the respective HVDC and HVAC cable systems shall be completed with fibre optic cable and monitoring systems.
Cable manufacturing is planned at Prysmian centres of excellence in Pikkala in Finland (for submarine cables), as well as Gron and Montereau, both located in France (for onshore cables). Offshore installation activities shall utilize a Prysmian cable lay vessel of the Leonardo da Vinci class.
Commissioning of the project is scheduled in 2028.
