Nexans has been awarded a contract worth around 150 million Euro by Fingrid Oyj, the electricity transmission system operator in Finland, and Svenska Kraftnät, a state utility that runs the national electrical grid in Sweden. The contract is for the manufacture and installation of a HVDC submarine power cable for Fenno-Skan 2, the new power interconnector between Finland and Sweden.

The Fenno-Skan 2 HVDC project will create a new 800 MW, 500 kV subsea electricity transmission connection between southern Finland and Sweden, following a 200 km route across the Gulf of Bothnia. It will form a bipolar arrangement with the existing 550 MW, 400 kV Fenno-Skan link, commissioned in 1989, providing a 40% increase in power transmission capacity between the two countries. This will help improve the functioning of the Nordic electricity market and the new cable will also reduce losses in the Nordic transmission grids and improve power system security.

Nexans will supply around 200 km of specialized solid, oil-impregnated MIND (Mass Impregnated Non-Draining) cable for both the subsea and land based elements of the Fenno-Skan 2 interconnector. With a copper cross-section of 2,000 mm², this will be the largest capacity HVDC cable manufactured by Nexans to date.

Nexans will manufacture the Fenno-Skan 2 cable in its plant based in Halden, Norway, starting in autumn 2009. The installation of the subsea cable, at a maximum sea depth of 100 m, will be carried out by Nexans’ own cable laying ship – the CS Skagerrak, and this is scheduled for spring 2011. The cable will be supplied in two continuous lengths of around 100 km, so just one offshore joint will be required.