Prysmian lays deepest ever power cable

The 500 kV HVDC MI1 cable was laid at 2,150 metres, setting new market standards for a power cable.

After successful trials, the cable can now be laid by the state-of-the-art Leonardo da Vinci cable-laying vessel at Terna’s Tyrrhenian Link connecting Italy, Sicily and Sardinia.

The non-metallic armoured cable is designed with a composite material based on high modulus synthetic fibres which means it is 50% lighter in steel when in water.

This technology was used in 2019 for the Evia – Andros-Tinos interconnection at a water depth of 550 metres and in 2020 for the Crete-Peloponnese submarine interconnection project at 1,000 metres.

The Tyrrhenian Link is a €1.7 billion project awarded in 2021 by Terna. Under the contract, Prysmian will design, supply and install a total of more than 1,500 km of submarine cables to support the power exchange among Sardinia, Sicily and Campania, reinforcing the Mediterranean energy hub.