General Cable Corporation has bagged a 195 million euro ($274 million) contract to lay a transmission system for the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm being built by 50Hertze Offshore G.m.b.H.
The wire and cable company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke G.m.b.H., obtained the deal to supply and install 120 kilometers of 150-kilovolt export submarine transmission cables and three single core cables, each measuring 12 kilometers, that would be laid underground.
The Baltic offshore project will use 80 units of 3.6-MW wind turbines along the Baltic Sea off the coast of Rostock in northern Germany, near the island of Rügen. It is expected to produce 1,200 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually to meet the needs of about 340,000 households and displace 900,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Nordenham, Germany-based Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke will manage the project with the support of its parent company’s European and Mediterranean division. The project will be rolled out in 2012.
The project will use Nostag 10, a motorized barge in which General Cable owns interest, to lay submarine power cables and to install cables at Baltic 2. The barge is more than 90 meters long and is 27 meters wide.
General Cable acquired Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke in 2007 to expand its submarine cabling capabilities and manufacture medium- and high-voltage submarine energy cables.
Currently, General Cable Corporation’s (NYSE:
BGC
) submarine cables business provides solutions for submarine applications for telecommunication, oil and gas, medium- and high-voltage power, and project engineering, project management and installation.
German 50Hertz Transmission operates, maintains and develops Germany’s transmission grids, which provides power supply for over 18 million people.
The company manages the entire electric system in the German federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
“The terrestrial and submarine transmission cable markets in Europe, which are being driven by large investments in grid connections and alternative energy such as offshore wind power, represent an attractive long term opportunity for General Cable,” said Emmanuel Sabonnadiere, chief executive of General Cable Europe and Mediterranean.
