Prysmian completes cable manufacturing for Egypt-Saudi Arabia interconnector
Prysmian Group has completed the manufacturing of cables for a submarine power interconnection between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Image for illustration purposes.
Italy, Milan: Prysmian Group has completed the manufacturing of cables for a submarine power interconnection between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
This is the first ever large-scale link between the Middle East and North Africa which could foster the development of further interconnections in the region. The €221 million project was awarded to Prysmian by the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) in 2021. The new link will facilitate the strategic exchange of energy between the two countries and will connect the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations with the African continent.
The cable route will cross the Gulf of Aqaba, spanning the territorial waters of Egypt and Saudi Arabia with a route length of approximately 20 km and deep-water installation at around 900 m, in addition to sections of underground land cables between the landfall and the transition stations located on each side. It is expected to enable the exchange of up to 3,000 MW of electricity.
Simone Volpato, Middle East Portfolio Director for Prysmian PowerLink, said the project between Egypt and Saudi Arabia entails several challenges related to technological and environmental factors, adding that due to the presence of corals near both countries’ landfall, an HDD (Horizontal Directional Drilling) method had to be implemented on both sides in order to avoid damage to the marine environment.
Prysmian’s involvement in the project is a chance to start a new chapter for the its operations in the MENA region. Prysmian PowerLink has been working in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and is now also extending its presence to Egypt. To execute the project, the company has established local branches in the Egyptian capital Cairo and the Saudi city Jeddah, with two new local teams coordinated by the Project Management Team.
The project includes the design, supply, installation and commissioning of around 127.5 km of HVDC ±500kV MI submarine single-core cables, 43.5 km of 66kV XLPE submarine single-core cables and double-wire armoring, and 61 km of MINISUB submarine fiber optic cables for telecommunications and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) monitoring. This wider interconnection will transport electricity between the Badr substation (Cairo, Egypt) and the Madinah East substation in Saudi Arabia. The MI cables for the project were produced in Arco Felice, Italy. The fiber optic submarine cables were produced in Nordenham, Germany. The offshore installation activities will be performed by the Group’s cable-laying vessels, suitable for deep-water cable-laying operations. The delivery and commissioning of the project are scheduled for 2024.
Source: Prysmian Group