New submarine link to the UK Channel Islands

Prysmian, new contract for a submarine and land link to the UK Channel Islands

The Normandie 1 cable interconnection will provide electricity to the Island of Jersey from France mainland

Milan, 16 July 2015. Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a new contract by Jersey Electricity plc (UK) for the “Normandie 1” project to provide electricity to Jersey in the Channel Islands from the French mainland.

The project involves the turn-key supply and installation of a High Voltage Alternate Current (HVAC) cable connection from France (Surville) to Jersey (Archirondel) comprising of 28 km of 90 kV 3-core cable in a single length as well as related network components and specialist jointing works.

Prysmian will provide design, supply and commissioning of the submarine and land cable connections as part of a larger contract worth almost € 28 million, awarded to the consortium between Prysmian and VBMS; VBMS will perform the marine cable laying operations, including protection and landfall activities.

The submarine cable will replace the existing obsolete Normandie 1 interconnector and its 100 MW capacity will be shared by both Jersey and Guernsey islands under the CIEG (Channel Islands Electricity Grid) partnership agreement, which is the vehicle through which the local utilities procure power from EDF in France.

The submarine cables for the Normandie 1 link will be produced in the Arco Felice plant (Italy), the Group's centre of technological and manufacturing excellence. Project completion is scheduled in October 2016.

The link will complement the existing interconnectors to provide the Channel Islands with a significant increase in their power import capability from France mainland. The award follows the successful completion of the Normandie 3 link, also provided by Prysmian, in 2014, as part of a significant 10 year investment program by Jersey Electricity in their transmission network infrastructure.

Prysmian Group is particularly active in supporting the development of interconnections to promote the creation of a single European energy market with its state-of-the art technologies. The Group also boasts an unrivalled track record of both on-going and completed projects for the connection of islands to mainland grids, like the Negros to Panay project in the Philippines, the Cyclades project in Greece, the Capri-Torre Annunziata project in Italy, the Ibiza-Mallorca and the Mallorca-Spanish mainland project in the Balearic islands, the Phu Quoc project in Vietnam and the Hudson Transmission Project interconnecting Manhattan to New Jersey in the USA. Prysmian has also just been awarded the milestone project NSN Link that will interconnect Norway and UK along a 740 km route.