U.K.-based JDR Cable Systems, Inc. (JDR) has begun construction on a new 65,000-sf-ft U.S. headquarters on a 10-acre site in Tomball, Texas, that will combine three sites that were leased.

Per an article in the Houston Business Chronical that had information provided by JDR, a business of Poland’s TFKable, the site will be used to design and manufacture products for the oil and gas industry. The project, scheduled for completion in the first half of 2021, will allow JDR to expand its intervention workover control systems (IWOCS) rental business to support current demand.

The three leased locations collectively accounted for about 30,000 sq ft of space in northwest Houston. The new facility will include 45,000 sq ft of assembly and testing space, including a 60-ton overhead crane, and 20,000 sq ft of two-story office space. The site will see engineering and management for global projects, assembly of various oil field equipment and support for JDR’s offshore service business. Once the facility is complete, JDR plans to hire additional engineers and service technicians to expand its local presence. It will move 45 existing employees into the new facility and then hire five to 10 employees per year over the next five years.

“Beginning construction of our new Houston headquarters marks a significant milestone for our U.S. business,” said JDR General Manager Brian Davis.

The PolyOne Corporation, a leading global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and sustainable solutions, has completed its purchase of the color masterbatch businesses of Clariant and Clariant Chemicals India Ltd. PolyOne also announced that it has changed its name and will now be called Avient.

“We proudly welcome our newest associates and valued customers from Clariant Masterbatch,” said Avient President and CEO Robert M. Patterson. “They are joining us on Day 1 of this new era for our company, which as of today will be named Avient. Under this new brand, we bring two global leaders together to create a specialty company focused on sustainable solutions for our customers, being a great place to work for our associates, and creating value for all stakeholders.”

The Clariant Masterbatch business includes 46 manufacturing operations and technology centers in 29 countries and approximately 3,500 employees, who will join Avient’s Color, Additives and Inks segment.

“With this acquisition, Avient now expects over 85% of adjusted EBITDA to be generated from specialty applications,” said Patterson. “This is up from less than 10% when our specialty journey began over a decade ago. While we honor the legacies of our past organizations, under our new name Avient, we come together and look to the future as a world-class sustainable organization.”

The Prysmian Group has won a contract worth approximately €80 million to provide the submarine inter-array cable systems for the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France.

A press release said that Prysmian will provide some 90 km of three-core 66 kV HVAC XLPE-insulated inter-array cables. The cable cores will be manufactured at the Group’s sites in its French plants in Montereau-Fault-Yonne and Gron, and then be assembled and finished in its German plant in Nordenham, providing the French market with Prysmian’s state-of-the-art cable systems manufactured locally. Delivery and commissioning are scheduled for the end of 2022.

“This award confirms once again our technological leadership enabling the energy transition also in France, while also underlining our ability to provide our customers with locally manufactured solutions that ensure high performance,” said Hakan Ozmen, EVP, Projects Business Unit, Prysmian Group.

“This award represents an important milestone for Prysmian as it shows that our ambition to become a one-stop solution provider covering the entire supply chain is credible and sustainable,” said Olivier Angoulevant, BU Director Offshore Wind, Prysmian Group. “Our 66 kV cables system for inter-array networks allows twice as much power to be transported in comparison to 33 kV.”

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (SEI) has completed the construction of the largest wind farm in Japan, “Wind Farm Tsugaru,” which was ordered by Kajima Corporation.

A press release said that the project required a 34-km-long power cable described as “unparalleled for an ultra-high voltage (154 kV) transmission line.” The completed wind farm is designed to have a total output of 121,600 kW, which would make it the largest onshore wind farm in Japan.

The wind farm, located in Tsugaru City, in the Aomori Prefecture, was established by Green Power Tsugaru GK, a group company of Green Power Investment Corporation. Construction took about two and a half years. Sumitomo Electric was in charge of the design, manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, such as underground power transmission and distribution lines and substation equipment, jointly with its group companies, Nissin Electric Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Densetsu Co., Ltd.

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.