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wiredIn USA Digital . Networking . Monthly .

November 2014 issue - No 41

www.wiredinUSA.com

wiredIn USA

NextEra ' s billion dollar Boston bid

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#41 EDITOR

Billion dollar cable laying deals and a new $250m aluminum recycling plant may well steal the headlines in this issue, but there is also a slight change to proceedings at this year's 63 rd IWCS technical symposium in Providence, Rhode Island, worthy of note. The format remains the same with a range of papers being presented over the two days, along with the table-top exhibition running alongside on 10 th and 11 th November, but there is also the addition of a chance to meet Dave Kiddoo, the new incoming chief executive, and bid farewell to John Barteld, the incumbent. The IWCS announced at the end of October that Mr Kiddoo would be taking over the role. No stranger to the industry, with more than 30 years' experience in the industry, he has also served on the IWCS symposium committee and board of directors for over 20 years, and works with a number of other industry associations. This will be Mr Barteld's tenth IWCS and that is a fitting milestone for him to bow out and enjoy his retirement. The full story for this is on page 17. All of us at wiredInUSA wish John well for his retirement. David Bell Editor

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wiredInUSA - November 2014 Visit us at IWCS, November 9-12, Booth 106

wiredInUSA - November 2014

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CONTENT News Editor David Bell

david@wiredinusa.com Features Editor (USA) Dorothy Fabian Features Editor (Europe) Gill Watson Editorial assistant Christian Bradley Design Hélène Phillips

06 Show Diary 2014, 2015 and 2016

NOVEMBER 2014 issue

#41

09 Making the News Industry news from the USA

helene@wiredinusa.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sales & Marketing (International ) Jason Smith jason@wiredinusa.com +44 1926 834 684 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Accounts Manager

34 Industry Trade Association Spotlight on awards, education and events 36 Asia & Africa News The latest news from Asia & Africa 28 Europe News The latest news from Europe IWCS 2014 Rhode Island, Providence, USA 42

Julie Case Publisher Caroline Sullens - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - INTRAS OFFICES Europe:

46 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 4HY, UK

Tel: +44 1926 334137 Fax: +44 1926 314755

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Products, Machines and Technology The latest news from machine industries

wiredInUSA - November 2014

DIARY SHOW EVENTS

INDEX

OPTICAL FIBRES Measurement Instruments In line data collection, display, record and report

Measure & Control Instruments

CIM PC software:

2014

MAY 12-15 May: wire Russia Moscow, Russia Exhibition www.wire-russia.com

NOVEMBER 9-12 November: IWCS Rhode Island, USA Conference and table top exhibition www.iwcs.org 2015 JANUARY 10-13 January: Wire and Cable Arabia Dubai, UAE Exhibition www.wirecablearabia.com

LIS-Glass:

Laser Interferometric Sensor

SEPTEMBER 15-17 September: wire Southeast Asia Bangkok, Thailand Exhibition www.wire-southeastasia.com OCTOBER 6-8 October: wire South America São Paulo, Brazil Exhibition www.wire-south-america.com 2016 APRIL 4-8 April: wire Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany Exhibition www.wire.de

 Diameter repeatability: ±0.005µm at 50kHz  Diameter uncertainty: ±0.15µm  Defect detection 75kHz , event recording  Ultra fine air line detection, 0.3µm, 400Hz  Fibre position: ±2mm range ±0.1mm , 1kHz  Spinning frequency profile  Fibre no circularity measurement Non Contact Tension Measurement (Drawing force Birefringence principle)

NCTM:

MARCH 23-27 March: NPE2015 Orlando, Florida, USA Exhibition www.npe.org April 28-30 April: Interwire 2015 Atlanta, Georgia, USA Exhibition www.wirenet.org

 0-400 grams ±1gram, 1kHz  Measurement field: 4mm Ø ± 1 gr within 10-40°C ambient Coating Monitor 5 axes

CM5:

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Others:

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MAKING THENEWS

The $1 billion cable A NextEra Energy proposal to bring energy into the Boston area would involve the seabed burial of the 68-mile 520MW transmission line, at a cost of around one billion dollars. The proposal is competing with a cheaper alternative to run just 25 miles of transmission line, while making other upgrades to help supply power to the area, and for $350 million less than than the seabed option. Burying transmission lines is an expensive operation, and NextEra subsidiary New Hampshire Transmission must convince regulators and lawmakers that the added reliability is worth the extra cost. National Grid and Northeast Utilities are partnering on an alternative proposal that would cost substantially less, and both companies have a targeted completion date of 2018.

The Boston Globe spoke with Boston's chief of environment, Brian Swett, who said reliability was a factor in the decision. “My concern as the energy official in Boston is not only how much my ratepayers are paying, but how reliable is that grid – what’s the percentage that it’s on during storms?” Swett told the Globe. “Down time costs my constituents, and my taxpayers, money.” NextEra is arguing that the competing proposal would need to take some active power lines offline during construction and system upgrades, meaning more expensive power will need to be purchased. NextEra believes that the final price tag on the National Grid-Northeast Utilities proposal could be substantially higher than advertised.

wiredInUSA - November 2014 iredInUSA - October 2014

wiredInUSA - November 2014

Fiber expansion Unite Private Networks (UPN) has announced a major fiber optic network expansion in Iowa. The nearly 700-mile route will create a diverse ring around the state, connecting all major metro areas in central and eastern Iowa including Des Moines, Ames, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Iowa City and Davenport. Initial construction of the fiber optic began in September and is expected to be complete in late 2015. The new heavy-count fiber network will support several anchor customers including fiber-to-the-tower and small cell deployment projects for a major wireless carrier. “This is exactly the kind of broadband infrastructure investment Iowa needs to be attracting,” said John Stineman, executive director of the Heartland Technology Alliance, a regional coalition of business and consumer technology users that advocates for technology and broadband-friendly policies. “UPN’s investment will connect Iowans at faster speeds in more places – helping to drive commerce and innovation. Iowa needs to encourage more investments like this in our broadband infrastructure.” “We expect customers to benefit from the lower latency and route diversity provided by the new fiber network. We look forward to providing broader access to the suite of UPN products, including ethernet services from 10Mbps to 100Gbps, wavelength services, Internet access, and dark fiber,” said Jason W Adkins, UPN senior vice president of sales and marketing. “No other carrier has added this much fiber in Iowa in years,” said Steve Bergeron, UPN director of sales.

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Major investment

Strata Solar has passed one billion dollars in project investment in North Carolina, with over 65 solar facilities in 40 counties across the state. Since 2009, Strata Solar has brought 350MW of solar energy online and has helped North Carolina become the third largest state for solar installations. On 9 th October Strata staff, elected officials, solar industry advocates and land owners gathered at the Anderson

Solar Facility in Roseboro, NC to tour the installation and celebrate the investment. Markus Wilhelm, co-founder and CEO of Strata Solar, said: ”This is a really big day for Strata Solar, a company that started as a family business serving its local community. We had big dreams and wanted to make a difference in our local environment and here we are today, celebrating one billion dollars' worth of investment with utility scale projects across our entire state.”

“North Carolina is a national leader in solar energy, and companies like Strata Solar have played a big role in our past and will continue to do so in the future,” said Governor Pat McCrory, speaking at the event. Strata Solar currently has 12 projects under construction, and is forecasting to achieve its second billion dollars invested in solar projects before the end of 2016.

in North Carolina

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The world’s leading conference for peer reviewed technical papers and presentations on technologies and trends in wire, cable, connectivity and assemblies for the communications, data, electronics, power, industrial, automotive and aerospace industries.

Renewing and improving

participate in the world’s leading conference

Southwire is renovating an existing 650,000ft 2 facility in Carrollton, Georgia, USA, to expand its building wire and feeder metal clad cable manufacturing capacity. This additional capacity will enable Southwire to increase production while streamlining operations. Production has already begun at the new plant with additional equipment to be added over the coming months. Once complete, Southwire will be using updated equipment and manufacturing techniques to produce several of its key product lines. “This new facility delivers a number of manufacturing

benefits and the property allows for further expansionas needed,” said Phil Tuggle, SVP building wire, Southwire. “Copper wire will continue to be our largest building wire category, but the market is continually demanding value engineered alternatives to copper. So not only will we get increased capacity, but we'll do it with an extremely efficient footprint with room for future growth.” Tuggle continued: “We are returning a shuttered facility to productive use and improving our manufacturing capability in the process.”

PHONE (+1)717-993-9500

VISIT WWW.IWCS.ORG

QUESTIONS PHUDAK@IWCS.ORG

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David Kiddoo has been appointed CEO and director of the IWCS, effective 1 st January 2015. He will take up his responsibilities after the retirement of the current CEO, John Barteld. Mr Kiddoo has served on the IWCS symposium committee and board of directors for over 20 years, and has over 30 years of experience with the wire and cable industry, primarily at DuPont and AlphaGary. He is also an active participant with many industry organizations, including the CCCA and NEMA. A graduate of Bucknell University, with a degree in chemical engineering, Dave Kiddoo and his wife, Lisa, live in Maryland. After ten years in the position, John Bartleld is retiring as CEO/ director of the IWCS, but plans to continue his teaching activities at York College of Pennsylvania. Change at the top for IWCS

Interwire time

The Wire Association International (WAI) Inc will host its second global continuous casting forum (GCCF) from 27 th to 30 th April 2015, at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, USA, concurrently with Interwire 2015 and the 85 th annual convention. Themajorcontinuouscastingrodprocesseswillberepresented in a program that will trace the continuous casting process from raw material through finished product, product testing, and quality measures. The format will include panel discussions, and operational and technical presentations, with time allowed in the schedule to explore the Interwire exhibit floor. (Stand sales for Interwire are reported to have reached 90 percent of available space, with 232 stands sold to date, representing 280 exhibiting companies.) The GCCF will include dedicated educational sessions addressing topics of specific interest to copper and aluminum processors, with shared copper and aluminum sessions to address global markets, cost-saving opportunities, and process fundamentals. Casting practitioners, raw material suppliers, and equipment manufacturers are invited to attend. Casting practitioners will have the opportunity to tour Southwire’s copper rod mill in Carrollton, Georgia, on Monday, 27 th April 2015.

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W I RE & CABL E MAK I NG MACH I NERY P LANT OPERAT I ONS SESS I ONS S P E A K I N G O P P O R T U N I T I E S

Novelis president and chief executive Phil Martens told Reuters that the plant, in Nachterstedt in eastern Germany, will produce 400,000 tonnes of aluminum annually using scrap from drinks cans, cables, wires and industrial waste. The ready availability of scrap in Europe is a major reason for locating the plant in Germany, Martens explained. Full production should be reached in January 2015. “We will be sourcing scrap from just about everywhere in Europe,” he said, including Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, France, Italy and Eastern Europe. About 300,000 tonnes of themetal produced will go to the giant Alunorf rolling mill in Germany, which produces about 1.5 million tonnes of rolled aluminum annually and is jointly owned by Novelis and Norwegian group Norsk Hydro. A further 100,000 tonnes will go to a Novelis plant in Switzerland. The output will replace imports of aluminum metal and purchases from traders and other third parties after closures of European aluminum smelters have made the metal increasingly difficult to source, Martens explained.

NEW TRENDS & PRODUCTS SUPP L I ES & EQU I PMENT GLOBAL NETWORK I NG S P O N S O R S H I P S

$250m aluminum recycling plant US-based Novelis, a manufacturer of rolled aluminum products, has opened a $258 million recycling plant in Germany to process aluminum scrap obtained throughout Europe.

SAVE THE DATE

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A l s o w i t h W A I ’ s 2 n d G l o b a l C o n t i n u o u s C a s t i n g F o r u m

www.interwire15.com

C o r p o r a t e S p o n S o r S : PLATINUM | Sonoco Reels and Spools • Wire & Plastic Machinery Corp. SILVER | Carris Reels Inc. • Gem Gravure Co. Inc. • Nexans • Sikora International Corp. BRONZE | RichardsApex Inc. S u p p o r t i n g S p o n S o r S : Baum’s Castorine Co. • Chemson • Commission Brokers Inc. • Heritage Wire Die • Lloyd & Bouvier Inc. •

The Wire Association International, Inc.

1570 Boston Post Road | P.O. Box 578 | Guilford, CT 06437-0578 USA Telephone: (001) 203-453-2777 | Fax: (001) 203-453-8384 | www.wirenet.org

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Gateway upgrade

Medical acquisition

The acquisition will strengthen Carlisle’s successful launch of its medical cable and cable assembly product line by adding newproducts, newcustomers, and complementary technologies to better serve the global healthcare market. David A Roberts, Carlisle’s chairman andCEO, said: “We are excited about the acquisition of LHi, which helps us further penetrate the targeted healthcare market by adding scale and technological capabilities while broadening service ranges to our customers in this very attractive market sector.”

SAR, Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and the US west coast. The system was designed to serve as an alternative connectivity and as a complementary solution for links between southeast Asia and the USA. The AAG cable system is designed to offer a more secure and diversified route that avoids the hazardous Pacific Ring, so mitigating the effects from natural disasters including earthquakes and tsunamis. Ciena’s converged packet optical solutions will add multi-terabit data capacity, and enable AAG’s network to meet the demands of on-demand data networking services and traffic growth driven by mobile applications, high definition video and cloud computing.

The Asia America Gateway (AAG) consortium has selected Ciena’s GeoMesh submarine solution, including the 6500 packet-optical platform, powered by WaveLogic coherent optics with Flexible Grid technology, for a 100G expansion to its AAG trans-Pacific cable network. AAG is a 20,000km submarine communications cable system, connecting Southeast Asia with the US mainland, across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and Hawaii. It provides connectivity between Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Hong Kong

Carlisle Companies Incorporated has acquired the Shenzhen cable assembly producer LHi Technology. With annual sales of over $100 million, LHi sells its customized, high-reliability wire, cable and components to leading medical device manufacturers around the world. The business will operate as part of Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, a global provider of wire, cable and interconnect components for commercial and military aircraft, medical applications, and communications systems.

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ACSR contract Basin Electric Power Cooperative, one of the largest electric generation and transmission (G&T) cooperatives in the US, has awarded a contract to General Cable for the supply of overhead conductor for a new 345kV transmission line. The

Scholarship award Allied Wire and Cable has awarded a $10,000 scholarship to local student Peyton Lamkins. Peyton, the daughter of Paula Lamkins, a member of the marketing department since 2009, will be attending the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, to study Fine Arts. The annual AWC Scholarship began in 2011, and is given to one very deserving student each fall. The winner of the scholarship receives $2,500 per year for a four-year program, or $2,000 per year for a five-year program, totaling $10,000 over the course of the student’s college career. To be eligible for the scholarship, the student must be a child of an employee who has been with Allied for at least three years, and be a high school senior with a minimum 3.0 GPA. The student must also write a compelling essay explaining their application. Peyton is the third student to receive the scholarship.

TransPowr overhead conductors offer long-term perfor- formance and reliability, even in the complex operating conditions existing in the north central US. General Cables electric utility products sales vice president, Joshua Katzman, said: "Our associates are proud to provide performance-proven, reliable product for this high profile project, backed by dependable service and engineering expertise. "With a strong reputation in safety, quality and integrity, General Cable is pleased to partner with Basin Electric andsupport their initiativetoaddelectric transmission capacity and enhanced reliability to an aging national grid." ACSR

Korean contract

Under the $10 million contract, General Cable will deliver 2,312kcmil thrasher aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) overhead conductor for the transmission line, which will run between the Antelope Valley station and substations near Grassy Butte and Williston, ending at the Neset substation near Tioga. The Antelope Valley station project features approximately 200 miles of single circuit 345kV and double circuit 345/115kV transmission lines to enhance capacity and reliability as well as system stability for the region.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), has selected General Cable’s Ultrol ® 60+ class 1E nuclear qualified cables for a multi-year contract. Ultrol cables have been designed and tested tomeet the stringent requirements of GEN III+ reactor technology, including those outlined for APR 1400 and PWR units being deployed at the KHNP facilities. The cables have predicted aging properties of over 60 years, and radiation resistance with a margin that exceeds industry requirements. “General Cable’s strong, long-term commitment and proven capability to provide qualified cables for safe, ongoing nuclear power facility operation to the nuclear industry is evidenced with this award,” said Robert W Schuermann, vice president and general manager, specialty cables, General Cable North America.

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In print On-line CD Rom Apps

COMEANDSEEUS AT IWCS2014 AND PICK UP YOUR FREE MAGAZINES & CDs 9 th - 12 th November 2014 www.iwcs.org

Safety in cables

RSCC Nuclear Cable (RSCC) has completed delivery of safety-related replacement cables (class 1E) for the Shin Kori Unit 3 nuclear power plant, part of a nearly $13 million award by Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP). RSCC was selected to replace cables at two APR-1400 reactors, and has achieved the cable industry’s first installation of 60-year qualified nuclear cables. “RSCC is proud to have achieved this milestone in the qualification and manufacturing of the world’s highest quality cables, under the most challenging circumstances of scrutiny and delivery for KHNP,” said Steven Bonnell, president of RSCC Wire & Cable. RSCC has delivered over one million feet of cable to meet the urgent demand for qualified replacement cables. More than

1,000 reels of low and medium voltage power, instrumentation and control cables have been freighted to Koreaover thepast six months. Each reel was inspected several times during and after manufacturing in the US, and again several times before and after installation at Shin Kori. “ShinKori’scableshaveundergone more quality inspections than any other cable in the nuclear industry,” said Corey McDaniel, RSCC's vice president Asia. The cables installed at Shin Kori are the first ever to meet such stringent requirements, withstanding harsh conditions that include extreme temperatures, pressures, steam, and radiation. Elsewhere, RSCC cables have been installed in over half of Korea’s reactors and in every reactor in the US.

Leading magazines for the wire industries www.read-eurowire.com / www.read-wca.com 46 Holly Walk, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 4HY, UK

INTERNATIONAL SALES: Tel: +44 (0)1926 334137 eurowire@intras.co.uk / wca@intras.co.uk

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Company’s drive for children

S&E Specialty Polymers LLC recently sponsored its second annual charity golf tournament at the Sterling National Country Club in Sterling, MA, in support of Life is good Playmakers, the non-profit action arm of The Life is good Company. The Play Fore Playmakers tournament was a great success, with all profits from registrations, donations and sponsorships donated directly to the Playmakers organization. On 25 th August Duane Shooltz, president and COO, and Jay Munsey, national sales director of S&E, presented Life is good Playmakers with a check for Allied Wire & Cable has added two instalments to its Cable Basics video series: ‘Shielding and armor’ and ‘Insulation and jacketing’ have joined ‘Cable basics 101: conductors’. The first video explained how a conductor functions, and why the material and type of conductor are important. ‘Insulation and jacketing’ focuses entirely on the functions and

$20,000 at the Life is good headquarters in Boston.

the partnership with S&E,” said Rich Cremin, partner at Life is good. “We are all extremely grateful to have friends like Duane, Jay, and the good folks at Sterling National on our team. The money raised fuels the work of the Playmakers who help kids overcome poverty, violence, and illness. We are already looking forward to next year’s tournament!” S&E has announced its continuing commitment to support the organization, with the third Play Fore Playmakers tournament scheduled for 20 th July 2015.

Life is good Playmakers helps young children hurt by trauma, such as violence, abuse, poverty and illness. The organization provides comprehensive support to early childhood professionals – such as teachers, social workers and medical specialists – dedicated to caring for these at-risk children. To date, Life is good Playmakers has supported over 4,000 care providers nationwide.

“We could not have been happier with the golf tournament and humbled by

Learning cable

components to a wire’s insulation and jacket; how insulation works to protect the conductor while guarding against interference, and to keep the conductor’s signal strong, and how the jacket works to protect the cable from environmental hazards. ‘Shielding and armor’ details common shielding and armor construction types, and explains the terminology and

materials incommon use.While shielding protects the inside of the cable, and armor prevents physical damage from the outside, there are many different materials and types of shielding and armor, and this video explains the functionality and respective merits of each type.

The videos can be viewed on Allied’s YouTube channel.

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UK’s longest onshore HV connection

EUROPE NEWS

the design, supply and installation of 288km of 132kV cable and associated jointing accessories. The onshore cabling will begin later this year, and is scheduledtobecommissioned in 2016. Graham Carr, MD of Carillion Network Services, said: “We are delighted to have been selected for this complex contract to deliver the onshore cabling project for the Dudgeon Offshore Windfarm. This project builds on the excellent relationship that Carillion has developed with Statoil and Statkraft.”

A joint venture between Statoil, Statkraft and Masdar, Dudgeon Offshore Windfarm Ltd, will invest approximately £1.5 billion in an offshore wind farm generating enough energy to power 410,000 homes every year. Aspartof theproject,Carillionwill undertake all civil engineering and cable installation activities, including crossing a number of watercourses and strategic roads using trenchless techniques. The project is the longest onshore HV connection delivered in the UK. A new cable system will connect the subsea cable, taking the power from the offshore wind turbines, to a new National Grid substation. The contract will involve

EUROPE NEWS

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Power at the Heart

Power for Scotland

HVDC upgrade

Rig contract

Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has received consent from Scottish ministers to build and operate its 450MW Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm in the Outer Forth estuary in the North Sea. Pre-construction activities are expected to begin next year and the wind farm should be generating electricity by 2018. The wind farm will consist of up to 75 wind turbines, and occupy an area of approximately 80 square kilometers. At its closest point to land it lies over 15km off the Fife coast, in water depths of 45m to 55m. The subsea cable transmitting the wind farm’s power will come ashore at Thorntonloch Beach in East Lothian from where its underground cable will travel along a 12.5km route to a substation located within the Crystal Rig onshore wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills. Mainstream Renewable Power’s founder and chief executive, Eddie O’Connor, said: “[The] announcement is of particular importance for Scotland because it is the first time a wind farm will be built in Scottish waters with thepurposeof supplying Scottish homes and businesses with renewable energy. In fact, it will generate enough green power to supply more than all the homes in Edinburgh.”

Developers have announced that the world’s first heart-shaped solar power plant is to be built on a Pacific island. German solar company Conergy is to build the 2MW photovoltaic plant on the largest island of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, located in the southwest Pacific Ocean around 1,200km east of Australia. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and the plant, named the Heart of New Caledonia, is planned to come online in the first quarter of 2015. The plant’s 7,888 solar panels are expected to generate enough electricity to power 750 homes, saving two million tonnes of CO 2 over its 25-year lifetime. Located in the Voh region, the plant’s design was inspired by the island’s Coeur deVoh, anatural wildmangrove formation. The design will be visible only from the air. David McCallum, Conergy’s managing director, said: “The Heart of NewCaledonia will be a giant heart-shaped message to the world – it’s time to start loving solar energy. It will also, probably, be the world’s first beautiful PV plant, and perhaps the first beautiful power station of any description, anywhere on the planet,” he added.

Energinet.dk, the transmission system operator in Denmark, and 50 Hertz, the transmission system operator responsible for the eastern part of Germany, have given ABB an order worth around $16 million to upgrade the 600MW Kontek high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link. The project scope includes installation of ABB’s MACH control and protection system, remote operator work stations, training and spare parts. The link was originally delivered by ABB in 1995 and the modernization will enhance the operational reliability of the link and reduce maintenance needs. The upgraded link is scheduled to be in full operation in 2016. “This upgrade reinforces ABB’s focus and commitment to supporting customers throughout the lifecycleof theproducts and systems it delivers,” said Hanspeter Faessler, head of ABB’s grid systems business. ABB has significant experience in upgrading HVDC links around the world and is working on many similar projects. The Kontek contract is the 23 rd major HVDC modernization project for ABB since 1990, including 17 control system upgrades.

Prysmian Group has been awarded a new order by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd (SWS) – a wholly owned subsidiary of China CSSC Holding Ltd – to supply 320km of NEK 606 offshore cables for the company’s new2+2CJ46-X100-D jack-up (self-elevating) drilling rigs. The CJ46-X100-D jack-up drilling rig is mainly used for exploration, drilling, and operation of oil and gas with an estimated drilling efficiency of up to 50 percent more than other similar platforms. The latest contract reconfirms the validity of Prysmian’s technologies for applications in the oil and gas industry, and the group’s role in the strategic Chinese market. It follows a recent award by Nantong COSCO – a subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) – to supply 600km of offshore power cables (MV and LV) for 2+2 Ocean 500 semi-submersible accommodation vessels.

EUROPE NEWS

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Cables all at sea

Nuclear plan gets EU approval

Bulgarian cable

World Bank offers support

Four new Viking Ocean Cruises ships, under construction by Fincantieri, will use Nexans’ safe return to port (SRtP) cable technology. Nexans has worked in close cooperation with Fincantieri to develop a new generation of high-tech, fire resistant, SRtP cables based on its nanotechnology. Some 4,000km of the power and data cables will be installed in the cruise ships. Each 473 cabin-ship has a gross tonnage of 48,000 tons. In 2010, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced the concept of safe return to port (SRtP) for passenger ships in a directive known as the MSC 1 Circ 1368. The directive encourages safe engineering design and advises that critical systems and services must remain operational on passenger ships for at least three hours – long enough to make a safe return to port and evacuate the ship in the event of a serious incident. Cables not only need to be fire resistant, they must also withstand both physical shock loads and the thermal shocks caused by water jets spraying onto hot cables.

The European Commission has approved the deal between the UK government and state-owned French nuclear company EDF for the construction of the Hinckley C 3.2GW nuclear power plant in Somerset, England. However, the move faces opposition. While Prospect, the largest trade union for nuclear industry employees, welcomed ‘a positive decision’ by the European Commission, Greenpeace condemned the deal as the first ever Commission approval of a plan “for taxpayers to heavily subsidise the construction of a nuclear power plant in the EU.” Approval of the State Aid case included the proposed contract for difference, which provides the developer with an increased price for the electricity generated by the plant. An estimated £17 billion of state subsidy will be available in the form of a guaranteed ‘strike price’ of £92.5/MHh (nearly twice the wholesale price in the UK) and $10 billion in loan guarantees. The UK’s department of energy and climate change welcomed the decision, and reiterated that last October’s agreement in principle with EDF remains in place.

InvestBulgaria, the state-run foreign investment agency, has announced that the Bulgarian cable maker Zavod Location Mezdra is to increase output at its production facility in Mezdra, in the north-eastern region of the country. As part of the planned expansion, the cable producer will employ a further 800 employees at the factory. The amount of the planned investment was not disclosed. Zavod Location Mezdra supplies cable to a number of automotive manufacturers, including some German and Japanese car producers. Production at the facility in Mezdra was launched in early 2008. The new jobs are to be created by the end of 2015. Under the plan, Mezdra will take on new installers, specialists and supervisors at the plant, which already has a workforce of over 1,100.

The World Bank is to lend $150 million to Albania to help the country overhaul its state-run power sector and pay for necessary electricity imports from other Balkan states. In a statement, Albania’s energy ministry explained the loan will also be used to boost the efficiency of payment collection from consumers; over the past year 400,000 consumers have had their supply cut off because of outstanding debts. The two state companies responsible for electricity distribution and generation, mostly through hydroelectric plants, have already lost $550 million this year, largely due to unpaid bills. Onlyaround58percentofallpowerentering Albania's network reaches its destination, due to poor infrastructure maintenance in the country and widespread electricity theft.

EUROPE NEWS

wiredInUSA - November 2014

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INTERNATIONAL WIRE & MACHINERY ASSOCIATION

www.iwma.org

The IWMA moves to a new home

IWMA at record-breaking wire China

CabWire 2015 world technical conference – a date for your diary! The IWMA is delighted to announce that the 7 th biennial CabWire world cable and wire technical conference will take place on Tuesday, 3 rd November 2015 in Düsseldorf, Germany, home of the wire industry. The conference will be held at the Congress Center, and is already attracting interest following the successful CabWire conference which was held at the Palazzo Turati, Milan, in November last year, and attracted 200 wire and cable professionals from all over the world. Preparations are well under way with Dr Probst, retiring CEO of Leoni AG, committed as a keynote The International Wire & Machinery Association (IWMA) – the world’s largest corporate trade association for the wire and cable industry – is moving to new offices. The IWMA will be taking up residence at an office complex ideally situated near Birmingham International Airport, in the UK. The move comes as part of the association’s long-termexpansionplans todevelop itsmembership and grow internationally, and was passed at an executive board meeting in September. The IWMA is currently based in the same building as Intras Ltd, publishers of EuroWire, Wire & Cable ASIA and wiredInUSA, in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK, and will make the move over the next two months. Steven Rika, chairman of the association, said: “This is both an exciting and challenging time for the IWMA, but one which we are very much looking forward to.

speaker, and Arcelor/Mittal preparing to host a visit for delegates to its rod mill in Duisburg on Wednesday, 4 th November. There will also be an event at a downtown Düsseldorf location on the Tuesday evening where delegates will get the chance to network and socialize. If you would like to be involved by presenting a paper at this exciting event, then please forward by email a short abstract of no more than 50 words to the IWMA office at info@iwma.org Caroline Sullens, managing director of Intras, added: “Over the last two years the IWMA has developed exponentially under the direction of the current executive committee and new management team. “Following on from a corporate re-branding and new website in 2013 I am delighted to see the IWMA take up residence in its own premises which has come about at precisely the right time with the association in such good hands.” It is an ideal opportunity for us to grow and we are relishing the challenge. “I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Intras for the help and assistance we have had over four decades in building the IWMA into what it is today. “We have, and continue to maintain, an excellent relationship with everyone at Intras and I expect to see us working closely together for the foreseeable future.”

More than 13,500 industry professionals flooded the exhibition halls on the first day alone at the New International Exhibition Center, Shanghai, for the 10 th anniversary wire China in September. The International Wire & Machinery Association played its part in being an industry partner at the show, which hit a new record on the first day with a 30 percent increase in visitors from the 2012 edition. The exhibition, which ran from 24 th to 27 th September, featured 1,400 international exhibitors and various national pavilions including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, North America, and South Korea.

Mr Steven Rika, IWMA chairman, said: “The International Wire Machinery Association was honored to be an international supporter of the wire China 2014 exhibition. “The event, enjoying its 10 th anniversary, was again expertly organized by Messe Düsseldorf, Messe Düsseldorf China and local partners MC-CCPIT (Metallurgical Council of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade) and SECRI (Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute). “The IWMA stand again proved to be a hit with both our existing members that were visiting the show, as well as those exhibiting and those interested in membership.”

Remember to follow the IWMA LinkedIn page to ensure you are kept up to date with all activities, whether it is announcements about exhibitions, conferences and events or the educational trust, as well as member news. Follow us. . .

wiredInUSA - November 2014

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Theconsortiumbehind theAsia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) submarine cable system project has signed a supply contract with NEC Corporation for the S1H segment, the Thailand to Vietnam and Hong Kong section of the network. The announcement followed awards to a contractor for the AAE-1 S1S and S2 segments, and signals major progress in linking the major cities of Asia, Africa and Europe. At a length of around 25,000km, AAE-1 is scheduled to come into service in 2016 and will be the first high-capacity intercontinental submarine cable to pass through the Songkhla and Satun provinces of southern Thailand. AAE-1 is expected to be the first high-capacity cable system to link all major south east Asian nations to Africa and Europe via the Middle East. Cable crossing continents

ASIA AFRICA NEWS &

The consortium will work with NEC to ensure AAE-1’s Thailand to Hong Kong segment is ready for service at the same time as the Europe to Asia segment. AAE-1 will employ 100Gbps technology, with wavelength add/ dropbranchingunitsalongthe lowest-latency route, as well as cross-sectional capacity to a minimum of 80x100Gbps in each trunk fiber pair. When completed, the AAE-1 cable network will connect Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France, with other locations under consideration.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - November 2014

INDEX

Harnessing China

South Africa solar

Kenyan counties link

PV projects

Wire harness manufacturer Lorom has built its fourth wire harness plant in mainland China which is expected to be in full production before the end of 2014. Founder and CEO of Lorom, YT Yuan, said: “The investment in our first ever cable and cable system plant in the Beijing area demonstrates both our commitment to serving our Chinese customers even better with the latest technology locally made, and our confidence in Lorom’s prosperous future here in China.” The new Beijing-based Lorom plant will manufacture complex wire harness and cable assemblies for local automotive customers. Initial planned capacity is 250,000 wire harnesses per year.

Solar Capital De Aar 3, a joint venture between Italian thin-film module maker Moncada Energy Group Srl and Solar Capital Group, has energized its 85.26MW thin-film PV power plant in South Africa. A local Moncada subsidiary, Costruzioni Moncada South Africa (Pty) Ltd, built the power plant in De Aar, Northern Cape under a $232 million EPC contract. The plant relies on amorphous silicon modules produced by a Moncada subsidiary. Moncada and Solar Capital provided 25 percent of the project funding, with the remaining 75 percent supplied by South Africa’s Standard Bank. Construction on the project began in January 2013. Solar Capital De Aar 3 was among the preferred bidders in the second round of South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement program (REIPPPP), managed by the South African department of energy.

The Kenyan government has instigated the second phase of its national infrastructure project. Launched in 2009, the national optic fiber backbone infrastructure project (NOFBI) aims at connecting the entire country to high-speed broadband. The second phase was launched by ICT cabinet secretary, Fred Matiang’i, in Embu county. Matiang’i says the project will be completed by the end of 2015 and will see all 47 counties’ headquarters connected with high-speed Internet, enhancing communication between the two levels of governments and creating job opportunities. The project, which is being undertaken by China’s Huawei Technologies, is funded by the Chinese Exim Bank through a government to government agreement and to date has laid 4,300km of cable.

Xinyu Xinwei New Energy Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of SPI Solar, has an engineering, procurement and construction agreement for a 20MW PV project inWulaichabuCity, Inner Mongolia. The agreement with Inner Mongolia Jingzhaolai Energy Co Ltd marked SPI Solar’s first agreement for a PV project in the Inner Mongolia region. The project was scheduled to begin in October. Within just a few days, Xinyu Xinwei New Energy signed a similar agreement for a 30MW PV project in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. The project with Alxa League ZhiWei PV Power Co Ltd is expected to be connected to the grid by the end of March 2015. “We are pleased to have announced yet another EPC project in the Inner Mongolia region as we continue to establish a presence there while rapidly penetrating the market for solar across China overall,” said Xiaofeng Peng, chairman of SPI. “We continue to see solid growth opportunities and are excited by our success thus far in this important market for SPI Solar.”

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - November 2014

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Sri Lankan copper fighting imports

Renewable investments

Russian subsea connection

Hybrid plant

Egypt-based investment bank EFG Hermes has made its first investment beyond the borders of the Middle East and Africa with the acquisition of a 49 percent stake in EDPR France. The $208 million investment will give the bank a stake in EDPR France's portfolio of 33 operational wind farms with a combined capacity of 334MW. The transaction also marks the launch of a new direct investment strategy by the bank and a growing interest in renewable energy. The deal is EFG Hermes’s second in the renewable energy sector within a year, following an earlier commitment via the InfraMed fund to establish the Arab world’s first utility-scale wind farm in Jordan. Under the terms of the agreement, EFG Hermes’s private equity arm will manage the investment vehicle, while EDPR Francewill retain operational control over the acquired assets. EDPR France has a 15-year feed-in tariff arrangement with Électricité Réseau Distribution France for the energy generated by the wind farms.

Huawei Marine is to manufacture subsea cable, and other wet plant, for the Far East submarine systemunder a turnkey contract between Huawei Marine and Rostelecom. The multi-million dollar investment will enhance communications for the far east region of Russia, and provide high capacity connectivity across the Sea of Okhotsk. The repeatered system, over 1,900km long, will be deployed in two segments, the first linking Okha in Sakhalin Island with Ola in Magadan, and then on to Ust-Bolsheretsk in Kamchatka which currently relies on satellite infrastructure. Each segment of the Far East submarine cable system will have an initial 2-fiber pairs lit, and is designed to have a capacity of 1.6Tbps. The project is due for completion in late 2015.

Work on a 5MW pilot station for both solar and wind energy is expected to start in southern Bahrain within the next three months. According to a report in the Gulf Daily News, the station will be built on 120,000 square miles of land near the Al Dur Power and Water Plant. The new plant is among efforts by the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) to develop renewable energy sources, and will be linked to Bahrain’s power distribution grid by the first quarter of 2015. A tender has already been issued, and the minister of state for electricity and water affairs, Dr Abdulhussain Mirza, said a company specializing in renewable energy plants will be awarded the project before the end of the year.

Orange Electric claims that a significant shortage of copper scrap is blocking growth in Sri Lanka. In an attempt to solve the problem, the manufacturer has establishedacopper scrap recyclingplant. Situated in Colombo, the new plant is said to be capable of processing “all the copper waste available in the country” (estimated at 200 tonnes per month) which has the potential to meet over 20 percent of domestic copper wire demand. It has been estimated that the facility could achieve a foreign exchange saving of $16 million. According to Kushan Kodituwakku, Orange Electric's managing director, the shortage of copper is interfering with the everyday business opportunities of traditional and small industries across Sri Lanka and that despite a government ban, Sri Lanka has been exporting copper waste to India and Japan. Customs reports state that Sri Lanka has imported over 67,000 tonnes of copper wire andcablesince2007.Kodituwakkubelieves that readily available domestic copper scrap would result in a higher-grade cable than the imported scrap can produce.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - November 2014

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