Technology milestone reached in power transmission

“It is the first time in the cable industry that voltages at these high levels have been achieved”, stated Massimo Battaini, Senior Vice President Energy Projects at Prysmian Group. “These are also the first developments in cable technology that enable HVDC power transmission systems beyond 3GW per cable bi-pole, and as such, are capable of more than double the power transmission capability of DC cable systems currently in service,” he added.

These achievements prove the robustness and reliability of both XLPE and mass impregnated PPL technologies for HVDC applications to the highest voltage levels, the latter emphasising the intrinsic potential of the Group’s PPL proprietary technology.

The voltage upgrades resulting from such achievements also allow the increasing of the power transmission capability by up to 15% beyond the previously highest voltage 525kV XLPE technology and beyond that currently achieved with high performance PPL technology at a voltage level of 600kV, respectively.

These milestone achievements follow the group’s recent announcement of the successful testing of the 525kV DC XLPE and 525kV P-Laser cable solutions in December 2015 and March 2016.

For these new voltage classes Prysmian leveraged its knowledge of materials to successfully address the challenges of optimising reliable industrial processes with strict technological parameters and providing complete systems of cable and accessories.