1/4/2022 – Prysmian Group has been awarded a framework contract worth around €1.71 billion by Terna Rete Italia SpA (Terna), for the Tyrrhenian Link project, which includes the design, supply, submarine and land installation, and commissioning of a total of over 1,500 km of submarine cables to support the power exchange among Sardinia, Sicily and Campania, thus reinforcing the Mediterranean energy hub.

A press release said that the order from Terna, a unit of an Italian electricity grid operator (TSO), calls for the turn-key installation of one to three 500 kV HVDC links. Each 500-km link will use single-core cables with mass impregnated insulation. They will also have double wire armoring, an innovation recently developed by Prysmian Group.

Delivery and commissioning are expected in 2025-2028. Installation will be done by Prysmian’s new vessel, the Leonardo da Vinci, which will deploy the cable to a water depth of 2,000 meters, the deepest ever reached for a power cable. The ship, described as the world’s largest cable-laying vessel, entered into operations in August 2021.

The contract also includes an electrode system and an optical fiber cable for system monitoring, as well as land civil works and land-fall HDD (Horizontal Directional Drilling). The submarine and land cables will be manufactured at Prysmian’s plant in Arco Felice (Naples).

“We are proud to have once again been chosen by Terna as a partner for this milestone infrastructure project, aimed at providing a more robust and sustainable national power grid,” stated Valerio Battista, Prysmian Group CEO. “We have proven to be able to offer the widest industry expertise, as well as technology and assets, to execute such an extensive and challenging project.”

The new 1,000 MW submarine link will help Italy reach its energy transition goals, enabling three regions to increase their solar and wind power exchange capacity generated locally. This will therefore support the development of renewable energy through better use of energy flows and a more efficient market.

“This contract adds to the other €2.3 billion projects already secured by Prysmian in 2021, thus further strengthening the Group’s ambition to become the strategic partner for developing power grids in support of the energy transition,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP project business, Prysmian Group.