Nexans Norway secures major Seagreen cable contract

Denmark-based MHI Vestas will build the blades and turbines for the project

Nexans Norway has secured a multi-million pound contract to build and install high-voltage (HV) cables for a giant Scottish offshore wind project.

The company, which is part of the French Nexans Group, will supply offshore and onshore cables for the Seagreen 1 project, located 17 miles off the coast of Angus.

Construction on the £3bn 1,075MW development will start next year.

Due for completion in 2022/23, it will become Scotland's largest wind farm.

The 114-turbine wind farm development is owned by SSE Renewables (49%) and French energy group Total (51%).

The companies have said Seagreen 1 will be capable of producing enough electricity for about one million homes.

The cable contract was confirmed after SSE named Nexans as the preferred supplier late last year.

Under the new contract, which is understood to be worth tens of millions of pounds, Nexans will supply three 40-mile offshore export cables from its factory in Charleston, USA.

The export cables will be installed by the vessel Aurora, which is currently under construction

Three 12-mile onshore cables for the project will be manufactured at Nexans' factory in Charleroi, Belgium.

The export cables will be installed by a special cable installation vessel Aurora, which is currently under construction.

The electricity generated by the Seagreen turbines will be transmitted via the subsea cables to landfall at Carnoustie.

Once ashore, the cables will transmit the electricity to a new substation at Tealing, where it will feed in to the UK's national electricity transmission system.

Nexans is the latest overseas company to be awarded a major contract for Seagreen.

Earlier this month, Denmark-based MHI Vestas was chosen to build the blades and turbines for the project.

The blades will be built at the MHI Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight.

No decision has been taken on the contract to build the turbines' steel jackets, which the BiFab yard in Fife hopes to secure.

Nexans said it was committed to working closely with local suppliers on subcontracting opportunities, including both the offshore and the land-based part of the contract.

SSE Renewables also said recently that supply chain contracts associated with the Seagreen 1 project represented a "significant opportunity" for Scotland.

It estimated that Seagreen would create about 400 jobs during construction and deliver an estimated £1bn-plus in economic benefits to Scotland and the UK.