Prysmian secures €450m to double annual cable production

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and power and telecom cables developer Prysmian signed a €450 million ($488.5 million) finance contract to expand electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) in Europe.

The EIB-financed investment will enable Prysmian to double its production capacity for extruded cables at its three factories in Pikkala (Finland), Pozzuoli (Italy) and Gron (France) from around 2,000km a year to over 4,000km a year.

With a view to meeting the growing demand for renewable energy in general and offshore wind in particular, Prysmian will use the EIB funds to build new production lines for extra-high-voltage submarine cables, lines for high-voltage onshore cables and other technical improvements to existing lines.

This will help to meet EU targets for clean energy transmission via submarine cable solutions and long-distance interconnections, improving the integration and efficiency of renewable energy.

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Commenting in a release was EIB vice-president Gelsomina Vigliotti: “The EIB is the EU climate bank, and this financing shows our commitment to backing clean energy transmission in Europe.

“This agreement with Prysmian will help achieve the REPowerEU objectives by mobilising vast resources to address the most pressing energy and environmental challenges.”

Added Prysmian CEO Massimo Battaini: “Prysmian is playing a key role in promoting the European energy transition. We are proud that the EIB is supporting our commitment to help build additional capacity to meet the growing demand for clean energy across the continent.”

In the past, the EIB has backed Prysmian’s research and development across Europe, helping to support its production centres of excellence while promoting clean and renewable energy with interconnections between integrated renewable resource systems via cable solutions.