Oman Cables announced that earlier this year, it signed a deal with the Nama Group to supply its group members across the Sultanate of Oman.

A press release said that Oman Cables, which has long been a supporter of the Nama Group, will supply electrical utilities a mix of 11-33 Kv electrical cables. The deal was one of three signed by the Group at the 2018 Energy and Water Conference that were said to have a collective value of approximately $106 million.

The contracts run for a period of three years, with the opportunity for a further two-year renewal. "For Oman Cables this represents an ongoing commitment to the local market in Oman and signifies clearly the competitiveness on a global scale of locally based industries."

Nama Group Chairman Hassan bin Mohammed al Lawatiaid said that the deal includes nine group companies that can purchase cables to meet their needs.

Hellenic Cables and its marine contractor partner, Van Oord, have been awarded a contract from TenneT to supply and install sea and land cables for the Hollandse Kust (South) Alpha wind farm project.

A press release from Hellenic Cables said that the 700 MW grid connection project—which will transmit offshore wind energy to electricity users in the Netherlands—includes the design, manufacture of 220 kV cables, the cable-laying operation and connecting the wind farm to the Maasvlakte high-voltage station. The 42-km connection will run from the offshore Alpha substation to the onshore station located at the Maasvlakte 2 area, Rotterdam.

The two companies have also been chosen to deliver and install cables for the Hollandse Kust (South) Beta project. This calls for making and laying 66 kV marine cable between the Alpha and Beta platforms. The Hollandse Kust (South) Alpha grid connection is due to be ready by 2021, and the Beta in 2022. Hellenic Cables’ value of the assignments for both Hollandse Kust (South) Alpha and Beta projects is approximately €105 million.

"With this new tender for the offshore grid, we are again, according to the Energy Agreement, taking an important next step towards more sustainable electricity production at sea," said TenneTT CEO Manon van Beek.

NKT announced that the company has won a project to install 200 km of 80 kV high-voltage DC offshore power cables for the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup oil field development project in Norway.

A press release said that the award, worth approximately 110 million euros, is conditional upon finalization of the formal contract which is likely to take place within a few weeks. The cable system, which will offer a +/-80 kV HVDC solution, is expected to be ready for use in late 2019.

The cable will transmit power from the Norwegian power grid to the offshore oil field, the release said, adding that power from shore to the oil platform is an environmentally sustainable solution, significantly reducing carbon emissions from oil and gas production. Johan Sverdrup was described as among the five biggest oil fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“I am very pleased that we continue working with our long-term customer Equinor Energy AS,” said NKT President and CEO Michael Hedegaard Lyng. “I see the letter of award as proof of our premium DC technology capabilities and of our ability to provide turnkey solutions with NKT Victoria as a differentiator.” He added that the award further bolsters the company’s “leading market position in the oil and gas segment, which along with offshore wind and interconnectors represents good growth opportunities for NKT.”

Earlier in 2018, NKT completed supply and installation of the high-voltage DC offshore power cable solution for the first phase of the Johan Sverdrup development project. Installation was conducted by the NKT Victoria, operating at 600 meters depth, which marks one of the deepest installations of bundled high-voltage DC cables in the world. The Johan Sverdrup 1 solution from NKT now constitutes the world’s longest extruded offshore cable to an offshore oil and gas platform facility.

LS Cable & System (LS Cable) has signed a contract with the Bahrain Electricity and Water Authority for an extra-high voltage (EHV) cable project that it valued at
$125 million.

A press release said that the project requires 400 kV EHV cable for a new electrical grid in Bahrain that is part of the government’s efforts to industrialize and urbanize the nation. LS Cable will also be in charge of engineering works involving electricity and civil engineering.

LS Cable notes in the release that it has the largest market share in the Middle East—mainly in Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait—in terms of extra-high voltage submarine and underground cables. The Middle East is an important market as it accounts for around 20% of the global demand for extra-high voltage cables, it said, adding that infrastructure investment has largely been delayed in recent years due to low oil prices.

“As Bahrain has recently discovered a submarine oil field worth 80 billion barrels and the government is making efforts for industrial development at a national level, we expect to gain more contracts based on this project,” said LS Cable CEO Roe-Hyun Myung.

U.K.-based Liberty, part of the global GFG Alliance that also owns Georgetown Steel, announced that it has agreed to buy four European steel plants, including a wire rod operation, from ArcelorMittal.

A press release said that the "landmark transaction" that raise Liberty’s total annual rolling capacity to over 15 million metric tons (mmt). The deal includes Mittal’s integrated works at Ostrava in the Czech Republic, which has some 6,000 employees. Products made there include wire rod, hot-rolled coil, sheets, rebar, merchant bar and light rail. More than half the production is exported.

The deal also includes three other plants—one in Galati, Romania, and two (Skopje and Piombino) in Italy—that produce a range of other steel products. The collective plants have some 12,500 employees. The deal was related to requirements for ArceloMittal, which is seeking to buy Ilva, a huge yet long-troubled steel giant in Italy.