Record-Breaking Submarine Cable Installation at 2150m

Prysmian completed the sea trial tests for ultra-deep installation of a 500 kV HVDC MI1 cable at 2,150 m water depth. This, according to the company, is an industry record breaking installation, as it is the first time an HVDC cable is laid at such a depth, setting new market standards.
This non-metallic armored cable, which was designed with a composite material based on High Modulus Synthetic Fibers, shapes the new generation of cable technology. The use of an innovative armoring solution that in water can be 50% lighter than steel, combined with the state-of-the-art Leonardo da Vinci cable-laying vessel, will enable the installation and maintenance of Terna’s Tyrrhenian Link at a water depth of more than 2,000m, the deepest ever reached with a power cable.

The success of the sea trials is the result of many laboratory tests and proves once more the solidity of Prysmian innovations. The same light weight armor technology had been in fact used in 2019 for the Evia – Andros-Tinos interconnection at a water depth of 550m and in 2020 for the Crete-Peloponnese submarine interconnection project at 1,000m.

The cable will be employed for the Tyrrhenian Link, a $1.8 billion project awarded in 2021 by Terna S.p.A. Under the contract, Prysmian will design, supply, and install a total of over 1,500 km of submarine cables to support the power exchange among Sardinia, Sicily and Campania, thus reinforcing the Mediterranean energy hub.