Prysmian Group, the world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, is participating in the creation of Norstec, an association uniting the main players in the energy industry at the global level with the aim of supporting the production of renewable energy using offshore wind farms in the Northern Seas.
Norstec, supported by British Prime Minister David Cameron, brings together more than 40 entities operating in the energy transmission infrastructure and technology industry, including world-leading manufacturers — such as Alstom, Areva, E.On, National Grid, Siemens, Vattenfall and Vestas —, developers, researchers and industry bodies, and aims to promote policies geared towards the growth of the offshore wind power industry in the Northern Seas by exploiting the available resources and transforming them into economic and development opportunities.
The members of the association will collaborate and share information to ensure that the benefits offered by the vast clean energy potential in the Northern Seas are fully realised.
By participating in Norstec, the Group, which is already a global leader in power connections for offshore wind farms, strengthens its commitment to supporting more efficient and environmentally sustainable grids throughout the world, as well as its leadership in implementing power transmission and distribution connections.
In its activities devoted to studying and promoting more sustainable and efficient electrical grids, Prysmian Group is also one of the founding members of Friends of the Super Grid, a reference entity that aims to promote policies geared towards implementing a pan-European offshore electrical super-grid. The Group is also a member of the Medgrid project, aimed at bringing solar power from North Africa to Europe.
Within its portfolio, Prysmian Group already has various projects, both completed and in progress, involving the connection of offshore wind farms in Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) connections for the mega-wind farms BorWin2, HelWin1, HelWin2 and SylWin1 in Germany, which are part of Europe’s most important renewable energy development programme.
In this context, the Group is able to offer packages including special cables for the functioning of wind turbines, cables for inter-array connections between turbines that make up a farm and cable systems for connections with the main land-based grids.
With the aim of expanding the integrated production and installation solutions for submarine cable systems, particularly within offshore wind farms, the Group recently signed an agreement for the acquisition of Global Marine Energy, an English company that installs submarine power cables and systems.
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Press release, October 8, 2012; Image: Prysmian