Jan De Nul Group has signed a contract with Sumitomo Electric Industries for the installation of two subsea HVDC cables and one fibre optic cable. The cables will link the existing electricity grids in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The subsea cable route for the 500 MW Greenlink Interconnector is about 160 km long between County Wexford in Ireland and Pembrokeshire in Wales. Jan De Nul Group’s Cable Laying Vessel Connector will be mobilised for thos project. The vessel is equipped with two cable carrousels with carrying capacity of respectively 6000 and 4000 tonnes.
Jan De Nul is responsible for the end-to-end subsea cable laying and cable protection works. At the shore sides, the company will perform the Horizontal Directional Drillings starting later this year. The offshore installation campaigns will be performed in 2023 and 2024.
The cable-laying vessel Connector will install the subsea cables, which will predominantly be buried in the seabed. Where the seabed does not allow cable burial, the cables will be protected by the installation of rock or concrete mattresses on top of the cables.
Also read: Jan De Nul kicks off turbine installation for very first offshore wind farm in France
Greenlink
Greenlink is a subsea and underground electricity interconnector linking the power markets in Ireland and Great Britain and due for commissioning in 2024. Being awarded the status of Project of Common Interest by the European Union, it is one of Europe’s most important energy infrastructure projects, bringing green electricity to approximately 380,000 homes.
Greenlink brings significant benefits on both sides of the Irish Sea for employment, energy security and the integration of low carbon energy sources. For Ireland, it provides a natural link to continental Europe and the Nordic electricity markets via Great Britain.
The Greenlink cable project in figures:
- Transmission capacity: 500 MW
- Number of cables to be installed: two HVDC cables and one fibre optic cable, bundled together
- Cable length: 160 km
- Offshore installation depths: between 0 m and -125 m LAT
- HDD lengths: UK side: 2 times 1210 m; Irish side: 2 times 925 m
- Cable laying vessel: Connector of Jan De Nul Group
- Cable trenching vehicles: iTrencher and T1200 of Helix Robotics Solutions
- Cable protection with rock: Swordfish and Simon Stevin, both of Jan De Nul Group
Also read: Jan De Nul orders seagoing unmanned survey vessel
