NKT has made a framework supply agreement with Dutch distribution system operator Enexis, which earlier this year announced that it would be “scaling up” its cable suppliers from three to eight to assure its cable needs can be met for its ambitious power grid projects that will collectively cost an estimated €2.3 billion.

A press release said that one of Enexis’s projects will require several thousand km of underground power cables to expand the power grid in the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Brabant and Limburg to prepare for an increasing amount of renewable energy. The agreement with NKT calls for it to deliver approximately 600 km of power cables per year over the next eight years for that project.

The majority of the medium-voltages power cables will be produced at NKT’s factory in Asnaes, Denmark, with shipments starting in 2025. The plant is being expanded in the coming years as part of NKT’s announced investments across three medium-voltage manufacturing sites.

Enexis reports that it will need more than 76,000 km of power cables over the next 12 years, as part of its reinforcement of the Dutch power grid. That will include some 40,000 km of medium-voltage cables and more than 36,000 km of low-voltage cables needed for the reinforcement and expansion of neighborhood grids.

To make this possible, Enexis is scaling up from its base of three cable manufacturers: Prysmian Netherlands, TKF (BV Twentsche Kabelfabriek) and Waskönig+Walter Kabel-Werk GmbH u. Co. KG. It plans to add five suppliers. In addition to NKT, those include Tele-Fonika Kable, Hellenic Cables, KLZ Vertriebs and GM Products.