Nexans has secured an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the Hadselfjord cable project worth over €18 million from Norway’s national transmission and systems operator (TSO) Statnett.

As per the contract, the French fiber optic cable manufacturer will supply and install a new high-voltage subsea power link, that will cross Hadselfjord in the far north of Norway.

The Hadselfjord cable project is expected to increase the security of power supply for a population of nearly 50,000 people in the Lofoten and Vesterålen island archipelagos.

Statnett’s current cable, which was installed in 1977, is past its technical design life.

The existing cable link will be upgraded by installing a couple of 170kV submarine cable systems with a length of about 8.8km at a maximum water depth of 200m.

The Hadselfjord cable project will involve laying cable across Hadselfjord between Fiskebøl and Melbu in Vesterålen.

Elisabeth V. Vardheim – Statnett Executive Vice President said: “The Hadselfjord project will strengthen the security of supply in the region and facilitate future electrification and developments. The cable contract is the most crucial part of this project, and we are looking forward to working together with Nexans on this.

“We have in previous projects experienced Nexans as a good supplier.”

Nexans said that it will be using its cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) subsea cable technology. The company revealed that the three-core cables will have an integrated fiber-optic element for communication and also distributed temperature sensing (DTS).

Additionally, the contract covers supply and laying of single-core XLPE underground cables for the land-based sections of the Hadselfjord cable project along with accessories like cable terminations, earthing systems, cable joints, and anti-corrosion systems.

Nexans will manufacture the new cables at its specialized subsea cable factory in Halden, Norway. On the other hand, the fiber optic elements will be produced at the company’s plant in Rognan in northern Norway.

The company expects to begin installation of the cables in 2022. They will have a design lifetime of 40 years.

Ragnhild Katteland – Executive Vice President, Subsea & Land Systems Business Group, Nexans, commenting on the Hadselfjord cable project contract, said: “Our company’s purpose of Electrifying the Future is aligned with a long history of working with Statnett on many different types of projects, including cross-fjord power links. We are therefore delighted that Statnett has put their trust in us once again for Hadselfjord.”

  Elisabeth V. Vardheim, Hadselfjord, Hadselfjord project, Lofoten, Nexans, Norway, Ragnhild Katteland, Statnett, Vesterålen