Pirelli awarded Basslink contract
PIRELLI AWARDED THE 2002 MOST IMPORTANT CONTRACT IN THE ENERGY SECTOR,
WORTH 173 MILLION EUROSA 295KM LONG SUBMARINE LINK WILL INTERCONNECT AUSTRALIAN AND TASMANIAN POWER GRIDS
ONE OF THE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED SYSTEMS FOR " CLEAN" POWER TRANSMISSION WILL BE INSTALLED
THE SUBMARINE CABLE WILL BE MANUFACTURED AT ARCO FELICE (NEAPLES) PLANT, WHICH WILL BECOME THE EXCELLENCE CENTER OF THE GROUP, DOUBLING PRODUCTION CAPACITY AND WITH INVESTMENTS FOR
15 MILLION EUROS
Milan, 29th November 2002 - Pirelli has been awarded a contract for realizing - for Australian company Basslink Pty Ltd - a turn-key high voltage submarine link that will interconnect Australian and Tasmanian power grids and is worth 173 million euros.
This contract confirms Pirelli's leadership and technological excellence in the Energy Cables and Systems sector and is the most important for submarine power industry in 2002. The project foresees the manufacturing and laying of a 295 km long submarine power cable, one of the most technologically advanced: it's the longest submarine link ever realized.
"Pirelli was awarded this very significant contract although the slowing international economic environment, which has impacted the whole sector with the non-resumption of investments", commented Valerio Battista, Managing Director of Pirelli Energy Cables and Systems. "Pirelli has been recognized as the most reliable and technologically advanced partner for this kind of systems, which are the most challenging ones in the industry. Our Arco Felice plant, which we want to become the reference for all our submarine activities, will play a decisive role in the project".
The whole project, which is worth 342 million euros, was awarded to a consortium, whose components are Pirelli and Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution. Pirelli will manufacture and install with its own cableship Giulio Verne the submarine power cable, which will transmit 500 MegaWatts continuously and more than 600 MW peak at a DC voltage of 400 kiloVolts; the very long length of the cable will require the installation in three separate campaigns. In addition, Pirelli will install 6,4 km of high voltage underground terrestrial cables in Australia and 1.7km in Tasmania, which will interconnect the submarine link to the nearest terminals, and the extruded submarine cable for the return current of the whole system. Siemens will provide and install the converter stations and the overhead lines up to the cable terminals.
This system is strategic for the two countries, since it will guarantee the power exchange, with significant advantages in terms of peak load compensation, minimization of generation losses and spinning reserve. It will also allow Australia for utilizing power generated in Tasmania, which is of the renewable type and mainly generated by hydro power and wind production.
The submarine cable will be manufactured in the next three years at Italian plant in Arco Felice (Neaples). With an investment of 15 million euros, Pirelli forecasts to double production capacity of this plant already in 2003, with the goal of creating the world's most advanced excellence center for submarine applications