Nexans to supply submarine array cables for Lincs offshore wind farm off the east coast of England

Wednesday, Jun 30, 2010

Nexans, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded a major contract by Lincs Wind Farm Limited to supply the medium voltage submarine array cables and associated accessories for the 270 MW Lincs offshore wind farm to be constructed off the east coast of England. The order further extends Nexans’ involvement in the Lincs wind farm project, as it follows the contract awarded by Centrica in November 2009 to supply the HV submarine power export cables.

The contract for the Lincs wind farm medium voltage array cables covers the design, manufacture and supply of 64.8 km of 3-core cable with a conductor cross-section of 185 mm² and 20.5 km of 3-core cable with a conductor cross-section of 630 mm², together with the required installation and connection accessories. In addition to the power cores, the cables will also incorporate fibre-optic cables for the monitoring and control of the wind farm.

“This latest contract for Lincs wind farm further reinforces our position as a key supplier of cables for the UK’s ambitious offshore wind farm programme”, says Yvon Raak, Nexans Senior Corporate Executive Vice President. “It is also a perfect example of Nexans’ fully integrated approach to the offshore wind sector, based on our proven capability to meet every cable requirement, from low voltage cables in the wind turbine towers, through medium voltage array cables, to the high voltage export cables that bring the power ashore.”

The array cables will be produced at the Nexans plants in Hanover, Germany and Halden, Norway. The accessories are scheduled for delivery to site at the end of 2010, while delivery of the cables will start in March 2011.

The Lincs offshore wind farm

The Lincs offshore wind farm will be built in the Greater Wash area - a region which has been identified by the British government for large offshore wind farm developments. The wind turbines will be constructed 8 km off the coast, to the east of Skegness, at a water depth of 10-15 m.

Lincs should go on line by the end of 2012 and, with a total installed power of up to 270 MW (up to 75 wind turbines each producing 3.6 MW), should generate enough electricity to satisfy the demands of 200,000 British households.

Six of the turbines will be constructed adjacent to the Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms, which were fully commissioned in March 2009, and for which Nexans delivered all the required submarine cables.

Source: Nexans