NKT confirms that it has a capacity reservation from SSEN Transmission for Scottish power cable projects that it was previously given status as a preferred bidder.

A press release said that NKT has now reserved production and offshore installation capacity for SSEN Transmission for power cables for the two HVDC transmission lines that link Western Isles and Spittal-Peterhead. The projects will strengthen the interconnection of the Scottish transmission grid.

The parties have agreements ensuring production and offshore installation capacity for the 525 kV XLPE high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power cable systems for the two Scottish projects. NKT will be responsible for both on- and off-shore cable systems for the two links. The combined value of the two projects has not been set but is estimated to top €1 billion. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2030.

“The reservation of production and offshore installation capacity is an important milestone in the great collaboration with SSEN Transmission and our continuous support of the green transition in Scotland,” said NKT President and CEO Claes Westerlind. “The projects are an excellent fit with our decision to expand our high-voltage production capacity in Karlskrona and add a new market leading cable-laying vessel to our fleet.”

The Western Isles and Spittal-Peterhead offshore HVDC transmission links are part of The Pathway to 2030 Holistic Network Design (HND) which is a major upgrade of the electricity transmission network across Great Britain that is required to help meet U.K. and Scottish Governments 2030 renewable energy and climate change targets. The Western Isles cable route calls for some 160 km of 525 kV HVDC cable, to be completed by the end of 2024, and the Spittal-Peterhead cable route calls for some 220 km of 525kV HVDC, to be completed by the end of 2025.

NKT has signed a contract to supply the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) onshore power cable system for the Hertel-New York project, which is the Canadian transmission line in the U.S. that will connect to the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission line.

A press release said that NKT will design and manufacture a 2 x 60 km 400 kV HVDC onshore cable system that has an estimated value of €90 million. The power cables will be produced in Karlskrona, Sweden, and are expected to be delivered in 2024.

As a part of the overall transmission of sustainable hydropower from Canada to New York City, Hertel-New York will facilitate the onshore power transmission from the Hertel substation in Quebec, Canada, to the submarine section that continues to the U.S. border, where it connects to the CHPE transmission line. Once completed, the transmission line, one of the largest infrastructure investments in the history of New York, will help the state meet its goals of having 70% of power generation and consumption come from renewable energy sources by 2030.

“I am very satisfied that we have been awarded the contract for Hertel-New York which further cements our position as a key partner in ensuring the transmission of renewable power to New York,” said NKT President & CEO Alexander Kara. “This is a key project for NKT, and we are looking forward to close collaboration with Hydro-Québec. We aspire to continue to expand our market presence in Canada and the U.S. where we expect the green transition to create additional growth opportunities.”

TenneT, Netherland’s transmission system operator (TSO), has commissioned NKT, Nexans and a consortium of LS Cable, Jan De Nul and Denys to supply and lay some 7,000 km of power cable for offshore and onshore use that is valued at some €5.5 billion.

A press release said that TenneT, which serves as TSO for the Netherlands, and a significant part of Germany, owns and operates over 25,000 km of H-V lines and cables. It is now expanding that scope through 525 kV direct current cable systems for corresponding grid expansion projects. The company is completing the major tenders for grid connection systems that it started last year with this second framework agreement. These include 14 offshore connections, five of which had already been commissioned by the Dutch at the beginning of
2023, and one direct current project on land. The breakdowns for the orders are as follows.

NKT. The company will be responsible for connections for Nederwiek 3 in Geertruidenberg or Moerdijk, and Doordewind 1 and Doordewind 2, in Eemshaven. The order includes approximately 100 km of onshore cables as well as 300 km offshore cables divided into three onshore and two offshore sections to avoid cable laying in the submarine Capbreton Canyon. NKT will produce the power cables at the high-voltage factory in Karlskrona, Sweden, with expected commissioning of the full project by 2028.

Nexans. The company has received the order for the cable of the offshore projects BalWin3 and LanWin4 to be connected in Wilhelmshaven, as well as that of LanWin2, which leads to the Heide area in Schleswig-Holstein.

LS Cable consortium. The consortium of LS Cable, Jan De Nul, and Denys will be responsible for the other cable systems for the projects in Lower Saxony. These include BalWin4 and LanWin1, both of which are to be connected in the Unterweser area. The portfolio also includes LanWin5, which has its onshore network connection point in the Rastede area. The consortium has also been awarded the contract for the TenneT-side part of the 525 kV onshore DC project NordOstLink in Schleswig-Holstein. NordOstLink is a TenneT partner project with the transmission system operator 50Hertz.

The collective scope of the contracts includes cable design and engineering, production, delivery, project management and subsequent onshore and offshore laying of the 525 kV DC cables. Work will start in 2023, with onshore cable laying after 2025. At sea, cable-laying work is expected to begin in 2026. The offshore projects, each with a transmission capacity of 2 gigawatts, are expected to be operational by 2031 and NordOstLink by 2032.

TenneT COO Tim Meyerjürgens said that the project is an essential step for energy transition. “Together, with this award alone, we will implement around 7,000 km of DC cable for onshore and offshore grid connection systems in Germany and the Netherlands by 2032.” Each 2GW cable system will have a positive and negative conductor, a metallic return conductor and a fiber optic cable.

NKT announced plans to build a new factory, including a third extrusion tower in Karlskrona, Sweden, and a new market-leading power cable vessel.

A press release said that the investments are driven by an increasing demand for high-voltage power cables, strong order intake and a record order backlog of more than €7 billion at the end of Q1 2023. Since March 2023, NKT has confirmed high-voltage contract awards and booking commitments of more than €5 billion. “To deliver on this significant order intake, prepare for the continued strong market outlook and execute the record high order backlog, NKT will invest around €1 billion in its high-voltage power cable business.”

The investments will include a new CLV with record power cable-laying capacity and a significant extension of the Swedish production site in Karlskrona. “Here, NKT will build a new factory including a third 200 m extrusion tower adding end-to-end production capacity next to the existing facility. This will turn the site into the world’s largest high-voltage offshore cable production site.”

Driven by the previous investment program, more than 300 new employees have joined the Karlskrona factory since 2020. Now, NKT expects to welcome more than 500 new employees at the Swedish site towards 2027 following the investments.

Citing the need for more high-voltage cable production and installation capability, NKT President and CEO Claes Westerlind said that the company will continue to grow “in line with our strategic ambitions and to continue developing our turnkey power cable offerings to our customers.”

NKT will invest about €1 billion from 2023 to 2026. The new assets cited above will be operational from 2027. The investment program continues the lead of prior actions. In 2020, NKT initiated an investment program in its high-voltage factories driven by a major backlog of business won for German corridor projects and a positive market outlook. A key part of the program was to add a second extrusion tower to the Swedish factory in Karlskrona which has been completed. Additional investments were announced in 2022 following the continued positive market development.

NKT announced that it will sign a joint venture agreement with Taiwanese cable company, Walsin Lihwa, to provide technical support for the construction of the first subsea power cable factory in Taiwan.

A press release said that the factory will produce high- and medium-voltage AC offshore power cables mainly for the Taiwanese offshore wind market. This is expected to grow rapidly in the next decade to drive the green transition of the country. NKT will own a share of the joint venture and will act as the technical partner.

Aside from establishing a joint venture, the agreement includes a service agreement for building the factory, and another that will license NKT technology to the JV. When the factory is in operation, expectedly in 2027, NKT will generate revenue based on a royalty scheme and dividend from the joint venture. Final constitution of the joint venture is subject to customary regulatory procedures.

The partnership will see the establishment of the Walsin Energy Cable System Co. Ltd. (Walsin) with agreements that will result in the construction and operations of the Kaohsiung Submarine Cable plant. Walsin will own 90% of Walsin Cable, and NKT the remainder. The plant, which will primarily manufacture high-voltage export cables and medium-voltage AC cables to serve the offshore wind power market, is expected to undergo trial runs by the end of 2025, with full production by 2027.

“We expect high growth in the Asian market in the coming decades,” said NKT President and CEO Alexander Kara. “Taiwan is targeting to install additional 15 GW of offshore wind by 2035. The joint venture is ... an opportunity for us to participate in a new, growing market, which is otherwise challenging to serve. It is an important first step for NKT to establish presence in the Asian high- and medium-voltage market and a platform for future growth in the region.”

“Taiwan is blessed with an abundance of wind resources, presenting vast commercial opportunities in offshore wind power and submarine cable,” said Yu-Lon Chiao, chairman of Walsin Lihwa. “Walsin is honored to enter into a win-win partnership with NKT ... to further our clean energy strategy and contribute towards Taiwan’s green energy future”

NKT has signed a contract to supply the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) onshore power cable system for the Hertel-New York project, which is the Canadian transmission line in the U.S. that will connect to the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission line.

A press release said that NKT will design and manufacture a 2 x 60 km 400 kV HVDC onshore cable system that has an estimated value of €90 million. The power cables will be produced in Karlskrona, Sweden, and are expected to be delivered in 2024.

As a part of the overall transmission of sustainable hydropower from Canada to New York City, Hertel-New York will facilitate the onshore power transmission from the Hertel substation in Quebec, Canada, to the submarine section that continues to the U.S. border, where it connects to the CHPE transmission line. Once completed, the transmission line, one of the largest infrastructure investments in the history of New York, will help the state meet its goals of having 70% of power generation and consumption come from renewable energy sources by 2030.

“I am very satisfied that we have been awarded the contract for Hertel-New York which further cements our position as a key partner in ensuring the transmission of renewable power to New York,” said NKT President & CEO Alexander Kara. “This is a key project for NKT, and we are looking forward to close collaboration with Hydro-Québec. We aspire to continue to expand our market presence in Canada and the U.S. where we expect the green transition to create additional growth opportunities.”

3/4/2022 – NKT has entered into an agreement to acquire U.K.-based Ventcroft Ltd. to bolster its position in the European power cable market by adding the company’s fire-resistant cable technology to the portfolio.

A press release said that the acquisition was an important step in the NKT strategy to grow the business with a strong product portfolio including fire-resistant power cables, telecom power cables and building wires. It noted that there is a growing focus on such products in the construction industry. “We are pleased to welcome Ventcroft to NKT and add their leading technology to our portfolio and expect them to benefit from our broad reach across the European market as part of our growth journey,” said NKT Executive Vice President and Head of Applications Will Hendrikx.

“We are looking forward to starting a new chapter with NKT and the acquisition brings some interesting possibilities to create future growth for Ventcroft,” said Ventcroft owner and Chairman Frank Rotheram. At the website of the family owned business, located south of Liverpool, Ventcroft notes that it is the U.K.’s largest independent manufacturer of fire and security products. The company, founded in 1989 and based in Runcorn, Cheshire, supplies cable and electronic products to a global client base in more than 50 countries.

12/6/21 – NKT plans to extend its presence in Poland with a local execution hub that will prepare it for the market opportunities driven by the country’s green transformation in Poland.
A press release said that NKT is now expanding its local presence with an execution center to prepare for a growing demand for both on- and offshore power cables. The center will be located in Gdynia, Poland, close to the Baltic Sea where several offshore wind farms are expected to be located.
The execution center is not a production site but a hub from where a company can execute local projects, both onshore and offshore. “The idea is to first hire cable jointers for installation projects where they are connecting the produced cable lengths. At a later stage, the plan is to hire more project-oriented people to drive offshore wind projects, so the center development is linked to future projects we win in Poland,” a company spokesman said.
NKT expects to hire the first power cable jointers by the end of 2021 and will hire additional people to the execution center as the potential market opportunities emerge with the first offshore wind projects materializing in the coming years. With two existing manufacturing sites in Poland specializing in building wires, low-voltage power cables and PVC compounds, NKT is also well-positioned to meet the growing demand for power cables driven by the expected reinforcement of the Polish power grid.
“We already have a strong footprint in Poland, and it is natural for us to take steps to strengthen our position in the country with the new execution hub,” said NKT CEO Alexander Kara. He noted that NKT is preparing to support Poland’s national ambition to install up to 11 GW of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea by 2040.