Power and automation technology group ABB is to invest over $400 million to double the capacity of its high-voltage cables manufacturing facility in Karlskrona, Sweden, to meet growing demand for subsea cables.
The investment plan includes construction of new buildings and installation of additional manufacturing lines at the existing plant. The expansion will be carried out in a phased manner over four years and is expected to be completed by 2015.
“This investment will help us to boost production capacity and meet the growing demand for high-voltage subsea power cables,” said Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. “Subsea cables play an integral part in the efficient and reliable transmission of electricity for a range of applications such as interconnectors between countries, offshore wind connections and power supply to oil and gas platforms.”
This move follows an investment of about $90 million announced last year to build a new cable factory in the USA for land cables used in AC and DC applications. A major upgrade of ABB’s Karlskrona facility was completed earlier this year.
ABB has been manufacturing cables for more than a 100 years and is a leading global supplier of high voltage, energy-efficient transmission cables. The company’s offering includes XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) insulated cables for AC transmission as well as mass-impregnated paper-insulated cables and polymeric insulated cables for various HVDC and and other high-voltage power transmission applications.
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