US offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind, LLC has awarded Prysmian Group with a contract to provide a submarine power cable system for the 800MW Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts.
The value of the contract is approximately EUR 200 million, Prysmian said.
With the notice to proceed expected at the end of 2019, Prysmian Group will be responsible for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of a High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) cable system composed of two 220 kV three-core cables utilising extruded XLPE insulation.
The project requires a total of 134 kilometres of power cables. The submarine cables will be produced in Prysmian’s facilities in Pikkala, Finland, and Arco Felice, Italy.
Installation operations will be performed by Prysmian’s cable laying vessels Cable Enterprise and Ulisse. Delivery and commissioning of the project are scheduled for 2021.
Prysmian will also provide PRY-CAM permanent monitoring solutions consisting of long-range Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) and Real Time Thermal Rating (RTTR) systems collecting and analysing data by ways of an artificial intelligence interface, which generates automated alarm signals if a critical situation is identified.
“This contract reinforces Prysmian Group’s leading position in the submarine cable market and underpins both our continued role and our commitment to the North American offshore wind sector,” said Hakan Ozmen , EVP Projects, Prysmian Group.
“The US offshore wind market is now demonstrating a high level of motivation with a promising growth forecast and we are excited to contribute to realising this opportunity in the US market.”
Vineyard Wind will be built some 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard on a lease area covering some 160,000 acres. The wind farm will feature MHI Vestas 9.5MW turbines and is expected to enter the construction phase in 2019 and be operational by 2021.
Vineyard Wind, LLC is a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.