Prysmian Group is to invest around €120 million in its strategic plant in Pikkala, Finland. The investment – in addition to the €100 million already provided in 2022 – is aimed at further increasing the production capacity of the 525 kV HVDC submarine cable systems, supporting the growing market demand that is being driven by the need to develop and upgrade power transmission grids for the energy transition. The global power transmission cable market is expected to grow to €15 billion by 2030 from the €8 billion reported in 2022.
“The investment is part of the around €500 million capex per year that the Group is implementing to support the energy transition, electrification and digitalisation processes, which require the upgrade of power grids and telecom networks. It is worth [highlighting] that this … investment plan is made possible [by] the Group financial solidity and its proven cash generation capability,” commented Massimo Battaini, COO of Prysmian Group.
New vertical continuous vulcanisation (VCV) lines will more than double the Pikkala plant’s existing production capacity of 525 kV extruded submarine cables and 400 kV AC cables by 2026.
“Our global strategy is to rely on three state-of-the-art power transmission cable hubs: one in Northern Europe, thanks to the increasing investments in the Pikkala plant in Finland, another one in the Mediterranean area, where we are investing around €100 million in the existing plant in Arco Felice, Italy, and the third one is the completely new submarine cable plant in the USA, in Massachusetts, serving the very high potential North American market” commented Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects BU.
The breakthrough 525 kV submarine cable technology is the Group’s latest innovation and is specifically designed to support the energy transition thanks to key features that enable a huge increase in transmission capacity to 2 GW, which is more than double the value achieved with the 320 kV DC systems currently in service.
The Pikkala plant is a crucial asset for Prysmian Group because it is a centre of excellence for the production of high-tech cables for land and submarine interconnections and for both onshore and offshore wind farms globally.
Image: Prysmian Group's factory in Pikkala, Finland (courtesy of Prysmian)
Linkedin
