Nexans Wins $260-million Contract to Connect N.S., N.L.



International subsea cable specialist Nexans S.A. has won a $260-million contract to provide and install the high-voltage electrical link between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Chris Huskilson, president and chief executive officer of Emera, told a conference call with investors Monday the company will begin raising funds for the project as soon as possible.

"We are on target and expect to be on the market seeking financing before the end of the second quarter."

NSP Maritime Link Inc., a subsidiary of Emera, awarded Nexans of Paris the contract for the turnkey project to create a high-voltage, direct-current cable connection between the two provinces.

Nexans announced via its website Friday it was the successful bidder.

"It's a highly specialized contract as there are only a few companies in the world that can do this sort of work," Emera spokesman Jeff Myrick said Monday.

As part of the contract, Nexans will design, manufacture and install the two high-voltage power cables that will span a subsea distance of about 170 kilometres.

The project includes the two cables across the Cabot Strait, almost 50 kilometres of overland transmission in Nova Scotia, and close to another 300 kilometres of overland transmission on the island of Newfoundland.

Nexans' own cable ship, C/S Nexans Skagerrak, will install the cables at sea depths up to 470 metres.

Myrick estimated it will be sometime in 2017 before the cable ship begins its work in Cabot Strait.

"There is a huge amount of infrastructure work to be completed before the cable arrives," Myrick said. "We'll actually begin with some initial ground clearing at some select sites as early as next month."

Nexans is a global leader in the power interconnection sector with over 3,000 kilometres of subsea cables in operation and about 25,000 employees around the world, said its website.

The company is already working on a contract Nalcor Energy awarded last year to create the Strait of Belle Isle link that leads to Muskrat Falls.

"We are delighted to be a part of the Maritime Link project and to have been awarded the turnkey contract to deliver the Cabot Strait cable connection," Dirk Steinbrink, executive vice-president of Nexans' high-voltage and underwater cables business group, said in a news release.

Some initial land clearing for the Maritime Link is expected to begin later this year, with construction and installation to take place over a couple of years and peaking in 2016 with cable installation to begin the following year.

The total cost of the Maritime Link is estimated at $1.52 billion. It is just one component of the larger Muskrat Falls project valued at $7.7 billion.

source wireworld