Crosslake Fibre reported plans for a 550-km subsea cable project that will connect France and England in what was described as the first fiber-optic subsea cable to be built across the English Channel in nearly 20 years,

A press release said that the project—called the CrossChannel Fibre—will have 96 fiber pairs that will each provide over 20 Tbps of throughput “delivering much-needed internet capacity between two important data hubs.”

The supplier for the fiber optic cable had not been selected yet, but subsea survey specialist EGS will undertake the marine and burial surveys for the cable system, which is due for completion in autumn 2021. The cable will connect the French capital with Slough, in southern England.

“We are excited to launch this historic subsea project and deliver a new, much-needed connection across the English Channel connecting the critically important data hubs of Slough and Paris,” said Crosslake Fibre CEO Mike Cunningham. “This new fiber infrastructure has been optimized to create the shortest path between the two data hubs, providing users with an enhanced technical solution and materially lowering operating costs.

The company told WJI that the cable contract is out to bid.

The deal follows a 2010 project last year where Crosslake Fibre provided the first new fiber-optic cable between Toronto and New York in almost two decades. For that project, the cable supplier was Sweden’s Hexatronic Cables & Interconnect Systems. That cable traverses Lake Ontario from Toronto to New York State utilizing a specialized 192 fiber strand submarine cable that is 36 miles (58 km) in length.

Accel International Holdings, Inc., announced that it will build a new 150,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

A press release said that the plant will manufacture high performance cables, wires and conductors for markets such as aerospace, medical, industrial and telecommunications. It will supply silver, nickel- and tin-plated copper and copper alloy products. The project is expected to generate 125 new jobs by 2021.

Founded in 2006, Accel operates three manufacturing facilities in Connecticut and Indiana that have a combined 450,000 sq ft of vertically integrated processes. The company primarily serves the domestic marketplace; but it has “international activity” in Canada, Mexico and China.

Accel’s new plant will be located on 10 acres in Port St. Lucie’s Tradition Center for Commerce. The company plans to break ground later this year. “With a vision for additional expansion, Accel has acquired a total of 40 acres for future development activity and has made a total capital investment of $55 million,” the release said.

The news was welcomed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who described it as “great news for Florida’s growing manufacturing sector.”

“We are excited about our corporate expansion into Florida and anticipate a bright future for us and the city of Port St. Lucie. We hope bringing 125 new jobs by 2021 to Port St. Lucie during these difficult economic times will be a catalyst for other companies to do the same,” said Accel CFO Tim Cummings.

At its website, Accel states that it plans to expand the Florida plant to 300,000 sq ft in 2023.

NKT has been awarded its largest order, worth more than €1 billion, from TenneT and TransnetBW, for a project that calls for it to supply and install a 525 kV XLPE high-voltage DC (direct current) onshore cable system.

A press release said that the cable will be used for Germany’s SuedLink corridor, which comprises two power cable systems. NKT has been awarded the 2 GW cable link, which it noted will be the world’s largest and longest high-voltage DC underground interconnector. The SuedLink line starts in Northern Germany where it connects to power from offshore wind farms and to the Nordlink interconnector, which brings hydro power from Norway to Germany via a 525 kV high-voltage DC offshore power cable system also provided by NKT.

Earlier this year, NKT announced that it would deliver the majority of the 525 kV XLPE power cable system for the SuedOstLink corridor in Eastern Germany.

“The order for the SuedLink corridor project underlines NKT’s position as a major partner in Germany’s transition towards increased use of renewable energy and in connecting the national grids,” said NKT President and CEO Alexander Kara.

A subsidiary of TKH has won a contract from Vattenfall to supply 150 km 66 kV inter-array cables for the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm (HKZ) 1-2, which is located in the North Sea.

The contract includes the manufacture and delivery of 150 km of 66 kV aluminum core cables and accessories. The execution of the installation and cable laying is scheduled for 2022-23.

The offshore wind farm, known as HKZ 1-2, is located about 22 km from the Dutch coast, between The Hague and Zandvoort. When completed, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of approximately 750 MW, and an annual electricity output equal to the consumption of approx. 1-1.5 million Dutch households.

The delivery and installation of the inter array cables will start in 2022. It is expected that the offshore wind farm will be fully operational in 2023.