Date: 2026-11-12 hits: 106
Nexans has started industrial mass production of 525kV HVDC XLPE submarine cables at its Halden plant in Norway. This marks the first time this specification of insulated subsea cable has moved from certification to large-scale commercial delivery. Awarded by European grid operator TenneT, the contract is worth around €1 billion, covering approximately 250 km of submarine cables plus onshore DC cable systems under an EPCI model. The transmission capacity reaches 2 GW, transporting power from offshore wind farms in the German North Sea to Heide in Schleswig-Holstein for connection to Germany’s main grid. An offshore converter platform will be built by a Siemens Energy consortium, with full operation scheduled for 2031. Industry significance: 525kV XLPE is the mainstream HVDC solution for offshore wind export. Compared with traditional oil-filled cables, it is eco-friendlier, requires less maintenance and supports longer transmission distances. It will be widely adopted in the next wave of European offshore wind grid connection projects. Nexans and Prysmian are the two core suppliers in this segment.
