50Hertz awards EUR 4.6bn of cable contracts for German grid

Image credits: NKT A/S.

German transmission system operator 50Hertz on Friday signed project and framework contracts worth EUR 4.6 billion (USD 4.8bn) to procure 3,500 km (2,175 miles) of submarine and land cables.

The deals are with two European manufacturers, Denmark’s NKT A/S (CPH:NKT) and Italy’s Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY), and will support Germany’s goal to reach climate neutrality by 2045.

“High-capacity power lines – whether overhead lines, cables on the seabed or underground cables on land – are the backbone of the energy transition,” stated 50Hertz chief executive Stefan Kapferer.

NKT and Prysmian will be responsible for producing and installing the cables. 50Hertz said that engineering, production and installation of the cable systems are slated to start in 2025, with full commissioning expected in the mid-2030s.

NKT has been awarded five projects under a framework agreement valued at EUR 3.5 billion, which represents a record order for the company and brings its high-voltage order backlog to over EUR 10 billion. The five projects include offshore wind export cable systems, onshore energy connections as well as a hybrid interconnector for the Bornholm Energy Island project.

The contract awarded to Prysmian is worth around EUR 1.1 billion. It is for a lot comprising the offshore grid connection system LanWin 3 in the North Sea and an underground cable project.

50Hertz has also agreed an option for an additional 2,700 km of cable with Prysmian and NKT.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.054)