Germany’s Leoni, best known for automotive cables, reports that it was won a contract from Volkswagen to equip 1,300 robots with its LSH 3 dresspack solution for production of electric vehicles.

A press release said that Leoni has already fitted a hundred of the robots at the VW Group’s production site in Zwickau. The LSH 3 provides the power for various bonding methods such as welding, handling, laser bonding, clinching and also adhesive bonding. The project also involves the installation of floor cable harnesses, i.e. installing the cabling for the robots or from the stationary tool to the robot control unit. Leoni notes that it has taken a holistic system approach, supporting customers with preventive maintenance, repairs and the adaptation of existing energy supply systems.

In the course of the next two years, several Volkswagen models are to be produced in Zwickau based on the new MEB platform, the release said. The Zwickau site will be dedicated solely to electromobility as of the end of 2020.

The robotics field has very high requirements to ensure mechanical, chemical and thermal product properties as there are challenges posed by powerful acceleration, compression and torsion, for example, as well as millions of flexing cycles. Further, resilience is a must for high temperatures, welding beads, oil and various chemicals.

Leoni’s LSH 3, which is highly reliable, compact and flexible in use, reduces the likelihood of a collision with interference contours. This advantage, combined with extremely resilient materials and tried-and-tested components, provides great freedom while at the same time allowing the dresspack to be ducted closely to the robot arm.

UAE’s Ducab recently announced at a trade show that it had won three major contracts in Abu Dhabi that collectively call for more than 5,000 km of EHV, HV, MV and LV cables and AAAC overhead conductors.

Per multiple media reports, the announcement made during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2018 said that the contracts were for 220 kV EHV cables, 132 kV HV cables as well as a range of MV, LV power and control cable systems. The cables will be used for a clean fuel and waste-heat recovery project that will also see Ducab supply a complete range of cables for the Bab Integrated Facility Project, as well as cables and aluminum overhead conductors from its newly opened DAC factory for ADNOC’s onshore Qusahwira Field Development Phase II Project.

“We are delighted to be the chosen supplier of power cable requirements for these projects as we have invested in developing this full range of cable solutions for the Oil and Gas sector,” said Ducab Chairman Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri. “We believe that the OGP sector will be a key driver for this transformation.”

Owned equally by Abu Dhabi’s General Holding Corporation and Investment Corporation, Ducab makes advanced products to meet the unique requirements of the OGP sector, both onshore and offshore, while upholding the highest international quality standards

NKT has signed a Pre-Construction Agreement (PCA) for delivery and installation of an export cable system for a prospective U.K. offshore wind farm project that is called Inch Cape.

A press release said that the project is being developed by Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm Ltd., a subsidiary of Red Rock Power Ltd. The PCA, which is for a consortium that includes Boskalis Subsea Cables & Flexibles, would be the exclusive supplier and installer for the export cable system.

The project would require approximately 170 km of 220 kV AC offshore export cables to be made at one of NKT’s two high-voltage power cable plants, and installed by Boskalis. The project was projected to potentially be worth from 80 million to 120 million euros. The wind farm site would be situated in the North Sea, about 15 miles off the east coast of Scotland. Construction is planned to start in 2020, with cable installation in 2022.

Per the project developers, a network of low-voltage cables will connect the wind turbines to offshore substation platforms. Up to two of these platforms will collect the electricity generated by the wind turbines for export to the national grid via cables that come ashore at Cockenzie, in East Lothian, where a short section of underground cables will take the power to an onshore substation for conversion to national grid voltage. A further run of cables will lead to the grid connection point at the existing Cockenzie power station substation.

“Being the exclusive supplier of the export cable systems for the prospective Inch Cape offshore wind, confirms our forefront market position in the offshore wind segment,” said NKT Interim CEO Roland Andersen. The Inch Cape offshore wind farm is to be situated in the North Sea, off the east coast of Scotland.

South Korea’s LS Cable & System Ltd., announced that it has won a contract with a German wind power firm to supply subsea cables for a Taiwanese offshore wind farm.

A press release said that the contract calls for 170 km of high-voltage underwater cables for an offshore wind farm, named Yunlin, that is located off the shore of Yunlin County in Taiwan. The farm is being built by the YunNeng Wind Power Co., part of the WPD Group, a Germany wind power company.

The release said that the submarine cable order for Taiwan represents a first for a South Korean company. The value of the deal was not released. It did note that as part of its plan to shut down nuclear power plants by 2025 and replace them with renewable energy, Taiwan is set to invest $23 billion in the construction of a 5.5-gigawatt offshore wind power facility.

In the release, LS Cable said that the deal bolsters its position for making further inroads into the European offshore wind power generation market. Established in Germany in 1996, WPD provides such services as construction and operation of wind farms. In the past 20 years or so, WPD notes that it has successfully carried out more than 400 wind farm construction projects around the world.

The central province of Quảng Ngãi has agreed in principle for Belgium’s NV Bekaert SA to build a steel fiber factory in a 40-hectare site at the VSIP Quảng Ngãi Industrial Park in the Sơn Tịnh District.

A report in multiple news organizations, including Viet Nam News, said that the Bekaert Việt Nam-Dung Quất steel fiber plant would have a total investment capital of more than US$125 million. Construction should begin late this year, and be in operation in 2021. At that point, it should be able to produce a range of products for automotive and other industries. The factory’s capacity would be up to 75,000 metric tons (mt) a year of braided steel fibers, 2,000 mt of steel cords and 2,000 mt of improved braided steel fiber, it said.

The project, the stories said, would be the second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) project in the Quảng Ngãi Province, after the project of Doosan Heavy Việt Nam Co. Ltd. 

Learn more about Bekaert by visiting their website, here.

The Wire Association International (WAI), Inc. announces the appointment of W.T. Bigbee as president of the association for a one-year term that commenced on January 1, 2019. Bigbee will serve as chairman of the Board of Directors and as the 66^th president of the 89-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, USA.

 A 31-year veteran in the wire industry, Bigbee joined the Wire Association International in 2011. In addition to his role as WAI president, and his forthcoming second term on the association’s Board of Directors, Bigbee will serve on its Conference Programming Committee, Exhibition Planning Committee, and Oversight Committee.

Commenting on this new appointment, WAI Executive Director Steven Fetteroll said, “The Association is fortunate to have the leadership of W.T. Bigbee and the support of an amazing company, Encore Wire, during this is exciting period for the wire and cable manufacturing sector. Bigbee understands the confluence of Industry 4.0, lean manufacturing, and employment markets and, as a result, he can ensure the Association is positioned to support the needs of the industry. This vision led to the ‘Next Generation’ theme for the Interwire 2019 Conference and it was the impetus behind the creation of a plant manager’s forum.”

Bigbee is vice president of operations at Encore Wire Corporation. His current role includes the oversight of technical and production operations and the development of new products and services. During his 21-year tenure at Encore, he has served as director of technical operations and product engineering, plant manager and quality control, and process engineering manager. Before joining Encore in 1997, Bigbee worked at Capital Wire/General Cable for 10 years, where he started his career in the industry and worked his way into a process engineering position. He currently holds memberships and serves in key positions within the Aluminum Association, the Canadian Standards Association, the Copper Development Association, the National Armored Cable Manufacturers Association, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the National Fire Protection Association, and the NEMA-UL Technical Forum.

WAI is governed by a network of volunteers from around the world. Joining Bigbee for the 2019 term will be members of the association’s 2019 executive committee: First Vice President, Jan Sørige, Enkotec Co. Inc.; Second Vice President, Tom Heberling, Southwire Co. LLC; Executive Committee Members, Daniel Blais, Prysmian, and James R. York, Insteel Industries; and Immediate Past President, Richard T. Wagner, Insteel Wire Products.

WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with more than 2,000 individual members in 54 countries around the globe. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo and publishes the Wire Journal International, Wire Journal International Reference Guide, and WIRE BULLETIN through subsidiary operations.

Media Contacts: Janice E. Swindells, Director Marketing & Corporate Communications, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-2777 x. 117; Steven J. Fetteroll, Executive Director, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tel.: 001-203-453-1777.