wiredinUSA April 2013

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Undersea to Scilly

High-voltage to Heimaey 2013

ABBhas receivedanorder fromthe Icelandic transmission system operator Landsnet to supply a high-voltage submarine and underground power cable system to transport electricity from the mainland to the volcanic island of Heimaey. Heimaey is the only inhabited island of the Vestmannaeyiar archipelago off the southern coast of Icleand. The new 72kV cable system will replace an aging existing cable. It will increase the transmission capacity of the existing link to supply power to the island’s 4,100 inhabitants and thriving fishing industry. ABBwill deliver theentire17.5kmhigh-voltage cable system, including a 13km submarine section, a 4.5km underground section and an integrated fiber optic cable. ABB is also responsible for design, engineering, submarine cable laying, joints and terminations, testing and commissioning. ABB projects include offshore wind farm connections, power-from-shore links to offshore oil and gas installations, subsea power interconnections, mainland to island power links, underground city in-feeds, and the integration of renewables with the power transmission grid.

Fiber optic cables, unused on the Atlantic seabed for about three years, are to be diverted to the Isles of Scilly in a £3.7 million scheme to provide islanders with the fastest broadband speeds. A cable ship will spend about a month cutting and moving the two cables, which were previously used for communications between the UK and Ireland and Spain. Ranulf Scarbrough, Superfast Cornwall programdirector for BT, said: “BT engineers have devised a highly innovative and environmentally-friendly scheme to bring fiber broadband to the islands. It is certainly the most ambitious initiative of its kind ever undertaken in UK waters and probably in Europe. “The remote location of the Isles of Scilly, their wonderful maritime heritage and scientific and environmental status will present a variety of unique engineering challenges, but BT has extensive experience of laying subsea cables in sensitive locations around the UK and further afield.”

EUROPE NEWS

wiredInUSA - April 2013

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