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Italy’s Prysmian Group has successfully commissioned the inter-array cable system for the Fécamp offshore wind farm, located in the English Channel, some 24 km off the French coast, in Normandy (Seine Maritime department).

A press release said that the Fécamp offshore wind farm is comprised of 71 wind turbines, has a total design capacity of nearly 500 MW. Prysmian secured the project in 2020 with a contract awarded by EDF Renewables and its partners.

“This important project marks a further significant milestone for the Group, being one of the first large-scale offshore wind farms located in France, in which the Group has full EPCI responsibility for the inter-array supply and installation contract,” said Alberto Boffelli, COO of Projects BU, Prysmian Group. A one-stop-shop service provider, Prysmian was responsible for the design, manufacture, installation, burial, termination and testing of a total of 118 km of 33 kV submarine cables with 630 mm2 cross-sections and both aluminum and copper cores to connect the 71 wind turbines that each has capacity of 7 MW to the offshore substation.

This contract confirms the trust and confidence that EDF Renewables and its partners place in Prysmian, having already awarded the Group other projects such as those for the St. Nazaire and Calvados offshore wind farms.

Buffalo Wire Works Co. Inc. (Buffalo Wire), announced that it has acquired Bison Steel, a company based in Depew, New York, that lays claim to having an unmatched industry product.

A press release said that the acquisition of Bison Steel deepens the portfolio of Buffalo Wire, which was founded in 1869, and supplies screening media for many industries, including aggregate, mining, industrial, recycling, asphalt, slag, green waste, topsoil and architectural. “Buffalo Wire Works is excited to launch this product as part of our ever-growing product suite.” 

At its website, Bison Steel notes that no other company can match its high-abrasion-resistant welded wire screens used in the aggregate and mining industries. Its welded high-carbon steel screens, created by a unique proprietary process, are very hard and abrasive resistant. They can last three times longer than traditional woven screens, reduce maintenance and increase production by up to 15%. Wire hardness can be up to 500 Brinell.

Hellenic Cables, the cables segment of Cenergy Holdings, announced that the South Fork Wind project has successfully powered up New York’s first offshore wind turbine, a major milestone in the construction of the first U.S. utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters.

A press release said that Hellenic Cables designed, manufactured, supplied, tested and terminated 30 km of 66 kV XLPE-insulated subsea inter-array cables and associated accessories. The cables were manufactured at Hellenic Cable’s plant in Corinth, Greece.

“This accomplishment reflects the dedication and expertise of everyone involved in this pioneering project,” said Alexis Alexiou, CEO of Cenergy Holdings. “We’re proud to work with industry leaders such as Ørsted and Eversource on a project that will help transform the US energy sector.”

Hellenic Cables already has a strong project pipeline in the U.S. offshore wind sector, with contracts for the supply of inter-array cables for flagship projects, including Revolution Wind in Connecticut and Rhode Island, Southcoast Wind in Massachusetts, and Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.

A terrestrial cable has successfully traversed a pre-laid channel beneath the seabed on two islands in ocean waters north of the city of Zhoushan (part of East China’s Zhejiang Province), marking the completion of the first project of its kind in China.

Per multiple media reports, including China Daily, the terrestrial cable provided by the Hengton Group links the islands of Zhoushan and Shangyuanshan. The State Grid Zhoushan Power Supply Company, the project’s developer, said that inter-island energy transmission in China is usually done with submarine cables. However, China’s coastal waters have dense waterways and busy ships whose anchors could easily damage submarine cables, which led to using of a 10 kV one-km-long terrestrial cable that is buried deeper.

Li Zhen, the head of the design company of the project, said that other advantages include lower costs to make the cable as well as easier construction. To reduce tension and friction of the cable during the line laying, the company used wire rope traction, essentially installing an “exoskeleton” for the cable. It then used pipeline lubrication materials to reduce friction, ensuring that the cable remained intact during the dragging process.

Zhen said that this method could be “extensively applied to connect islands separated by short and medium distances of no more than 2 km.” The long-term goal, he added, is to achieve connections between islands over medium and long distances.

Gerdau reported the recent completion of commissioning of the company’s new steel processing heat-treatment facility in Modlothian, Texas.

A press release said that the facility—adjacent to Gerdau’s Midlothian, Texas electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill—is the only one in North America that can produce stretched and stress relieved A722 bars. That capability provides improved stress relaxation properties for fasteners as well as post-tensioned and pre-stressed applications. Unique to the facility is the ability to produce lengths up to 65 feet long in both quench and tempered, as well as stretched and stress relieved products. The new facility was designed to meet the evolving demands of various industries, including the rapidly expanding renewable energy sector.

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