Nexans has been chosen by Swissgrid to supply and bury 30 km of Very-High-Voltage (VHV) underground cables to replace overhead power lines along the southern side of the Geneva-Cointrin airport in Switzerland.

A press release said that Swissgrid, the national company in charge of Switzerland’s electricity transmission grid, chose Nexans for the project that will see the 220 kV underground cables replace the existing overhead power lines between the electrical stations of Foretaille and Renfil. The €25 million turnkey contract also calls for it to install two 144-strand fiber optic links and embed a temperature monitoring feature in the cable system.

The Swissgrid project is part of the “Axe Stratégique Réseau” development programs in the canton of Geneva and the Federal Roads Office’s “Redevelopment of the Grand-Saconnex motorway junction.” The overhead power line burial project was described as being exceptional due to its complex nature, both technically and organizationally. Nexans will be in charge of certain engineering services, including taking down and replacing the existing gas-insulated extra high voltage link (GIL).

“We welcome the opportunity to continue our work with Swissgrid on this ambitious and prestigious project, relying on the many and varied skills of the Nexans teams, from engineering to civil works, but also including the production and installation of very high voltage networks,” said Nexans Switzerland CEO Marco Spinelli.

The release said that Nexans has been active in such complex very-high-voltage cable projects in Switzerland before, including the connection of the Nant de Drance (2018), the Linth-Limmern (2016) pumped storage power plants to the national grid, and the underground cable connection of La Bâtiaz – Le Verney (2022).