7/12/21  Nexans has won a contract from VINCI-Energies Traction to supply traction cable for the new metro line 15 South, which is part of a mammoth French infrastructure project known as the Grand Paris Express (GPE).

A press release said that, when complete, the project—one of the world’s largest infrastructure projects, valued at approximately €35.6 billion—will double the existing Paris Metro network by adding four new lines, 68 stations and 200 km of track. It consists of a ring route around Paris (line 15) and lines connecting developing neighborhoods (lines 16, 17 and 18).

Along its 33-km length, the metropolitan Line 15 South will run from Pont-de-Sèvres to Noisy-Champs, passing through 22 districts to serve more than one million people. Most of the traction cables for the Line 15 South will be manufactured by the Nexans plant in Mehun-sur-Yèvre, France. Cable installation is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2021, and Line 15 will open first, in 2025.

Nexans said that it is the first cable manufacturer to receive an order for this infrastructure project. The order, which will take place over more than three years, will see the traction cables installed along the rails in a long tunnel and in different technical rooms. The majority of the traction cables for metro Line 15 are from the K25 range developed by Nexans to comply with stringent fire performance railway standards. The contract will also include R2V cables. Option logistic services could be provided to ensure secured and on-time deliveries that would optimize cable installation for VINCI-Energies Traction.

The project is managed by The Société du Grand Paris. VINCI-Energies helps public authorities and business clients deploy energy, transport and communication infrastructure, industrial facilities and buildings. VINCI-Energies Traction is a consortium for the project.

7/12/21  The Prysmian Group has won a turn-key contract worth €900 million to supply some 700 miles of ±525 kV cross-linked polyethylene class HVDC cable that will connect two of the largest energy markets in the U.S.

A press release said that the order is from SOO Green HVDC Link, LLC (SOO Green), which named the Prysmian Group as its preferred supplier of high-voltage DC cable systems for a first-of-its-kind transmission project to be installed underground along existing railroad rights of way. The 2,100-MW interregional project, considered the first link in a national clean energy grid, will connect the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) that serves the central U.S. to the eastern PJM Interconnection, serving more than 1.2 million homes. For more information about the SOO Green HVDC Link, go to www.soogreenrr.com.

SOO Green, which is owned by investment funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Siemens Energy, and Jingoli Power, is being developed by Minneapolis-based Direct Connect Development Company, LLC. The award is subject to final contract approvals. The construction part of the project will be performed by Jingoli Power, and will be added to the overall contract value.

The cables will be installed underground, primarily along existing railroad rights-of-way. They will connect SOO Green’s converter station in northern Iowa to its Illinois converter station, just west of Chicago. Cable production for the project is expected to start in 2023.

The cables will be made at Prysmian’s facility in Abbeville, South Carolina, which is being upgraded to help achieve President Biden’s goal of a zero-carbon power grid by 2035. “After the award of flagship projects such as the Vineyard offshore wind farm and the project to upgrade the Washington, D.C. area’s power transmission system, (this opportunity) further solidifies Prysmian Group as the partner of choice for the US interconnector market,” said Prysmian Group CEO Valerio Battista.

7/12/21  Bekaert announced that it will expand the company’s plant in Lipetsk, Russia, investing approximately $24 million to add a new production line for bead wire and to increase its current tire cord manufacturing capacity.

A press release said that the Lipetsk plant produces steel cord for the tire industry and Dramix® fibers for construction markets. The bead wire line will allow the company to make a full range of products for the reinforcement of tires. The projects are expected to create 80 new jobs. The production start of the plant extension is planned for the first half of 2022.

The news was announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF ‘21). “This expansion will help the Bekaert Lipetsk team to continue to deliver superior value to their customers and to contribute to the customers’ growth ambitions in the region and the wider CIS, as well as to become an export platform to the European region,” the release said.

In January 2008, Bekaert first announced that it would strengthen its existing position in Russia by investing more than €97 million in a new steel cord production plant in the Lipetsk Special Economic Zone. At the time, Bekaert already had a portfolio of customers in Russia for steel cord products for tire reinforcement, steel fibers for concrete reinforcement and other specialized wire products, but they were being supplied by its plants in Central Europe. With the first phase, first production was scheduled to start in 2010, with other work phased in through 2013.

The Lipetsk plant, which serves customers in Russia and the wider CIS region, is about 400 km south of Moscow. Bekaert has also had a sales office in Moscow since 1998, that serves a portfolio of customers with a wide variety of advanced steel wire products.

7/8/21  Superior Essex has completed an agreement to become the eighth corporate partner of The Copper Mark, which it notes is the only comprehensive social and environmental assurance program for the copper industry.

A press release said that the partnership aligns with the corporate sustainability goals of Superior Essex, and its recently announced Vision 2030 for the Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire brand. The focus of the initiative is to responsibly source raw materials being used in its magnet wire products. Superior Essex Communications, a global producer of communication cabling, has been a leader in sustainability since 2011, working in collaboration with its copper suppliers.

The Copper Mark demonstrates the copper industry’s responsible production practices and industry contribution to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. It assesses criteria of 32 different environmental, social, and governance “issue areas” of sourcing of minerals and metals. It sets to establish sound management practices based on voluntary standards for supply chains.

Annie Bevan, the global head of sustainability for Superior Essex, told WJI that the formalization of the relationship helps the brand advance its efforts. “This commitment showcases the ways in which our sourcing and sustainability efforts can work hand in hand within the organization, as well as the upstream and downstream activities outside of the organization.”

“This partnership is a victory from all sides of our business operations,” said Scott Wilde, global vice president of strategic sourcing for Superior Essex. “As our CEO, Brian Kim, recently launched his Vision 2030 commitments, we took this as a challenge to be forward thinking with green production and improving our product from the source which is a major step in the right direction.”
  

7/8/21  The Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers, Inc. (CASMI) is re-scheduling SpringWorld 2022 so that it will not conflict with Yom Kippur.

A press release said that the event, which was scheduled to take place Oct. 5-7, 2022, will now take place Oct. 12-14, 2022, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. For more details about the event, go to www.casmi-springworld.org.