Prysmian Cables & Systems has been awarded a $171 million contract by Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) for a high-voltage AC submarine interconnection between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Prysmian, formerly Pirelli Cables & Systems, will provide a turnkey project including engineering, manufacturing and laying of 120 km of submarine cable and 24 km of underground cable, with a transmission capacity of 1200 MW and 400 kV AC.
The whole project, valued at more than $343 million, has been awarded to a consortium, led by Prysmian and including Nexans.
Prysmian will produce and install a significant portion of the oil-filled cables interconnection linking Al Jasra, Bahrain and Ras Qurray, Saudi Arabia sub stations, passing through Umman Na'san Island.
The Prysmian cables will be manufactured in the Arco Felice plant, based in Naples, Italy, and project completion is expected in February 2010.
This project is designed to provide the opportunity to move energy from country to country, depending on demand, thus reducing significantly the possibility of blackouts.
Prysmian was awarded this contract after recently securing the Neptune project in the U.S., for the interconnection between New Jersey and New York.
Prysmian is now nearing completion of the "Basslink" project, an interconnection system between the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania, and "Spain-Morocco II," which will double the existing system between the electric systems of the two countries.
"We regard this prestigious contract as a recognition of our ongoing commitment to technological innovation and customer orientation - built over a period of 130 years - and are proud and delighted to have been selected by GCCIA, one of the most respected worldwide authorities for Interconnection," says Valerio Battista, CEO of Prysmian.
Prysmian Cables & Systems is based in Milan, Italy. For more information visit
www.prysmian.com.
