Nexans, a France-based company engaged in the cable industry, has secured a €220m contract to design, manufacture and install a 335km subsea high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable system, connecting Crete and the Greek mainland.

The contract has been awarded by Ariadne Interconnection, a wholly-owned by Greece’s state grid operator IPTO.

The contract forms part of Nexans’ existing €1.6bn order backlog for subsea cable projects.

In addition to providing safe power supply, the project allows additional wind and solar energy capacities.

With a population of around 700,000 people, Crete is the largest of the Greek islands. It attracts more than four million visitors per year, especially in the summer season.

The HVDC cable system is expected to reduce emissions, making the island a more attractive destination for the tourists.

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Nexans will provide one 500 megawatts (MW) HVDC subsea cable system to form half of the total 1,000MW bi-pole interconnection over a 35-month project.

The French company said that the HVDC cable will be manufactured at its plant in Halden, Norway and/or the plant in Futtsu, Japan.

Nexans’ own dedicated cable vessels – Nexans Skagerrak or new Nexans Aurora will install the cable.

Rated at 500,000 Volt, the Nexans cable is based on its mass impregnated nondraining (MIND) design for HVDC cable systems and will integrate fibre optic elements for sensor applications.

The near-shore sections of the cable, which will be installed at water depths down to 100m, will feature an aluminium conductor core with a cross-section of 1,800mm².

The deeper sections of the cable, installed at depths down to 1,200m, will feature a 1,500mm² cross-section aluminium conductor.

The cable will be protected by trenching into the seabed using the Nexans Capjet water jetting system down to 600m water depth.

The interconnection is scheduled to be operational in 2023.

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The 335km subsea HVDC cable system will connect Crete and the Greek mainland. (Credit: Nexans)