Nexans’ facility at Charleston, South Carolina, US, will design, develop and manufacture 105 km of Extra High Voltage (EHV) cable to connect Grand Bend Wind Farm in Canada to the grid. The XLPE cable, rated at 230 kV, will provide the connection between the wind farm substation and the local utility (Hydro One) substation.
The cable connection will be provided by Nexans, in conjunction with project partners Black & McDonald, the electrical services contractor, and global Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) firm, AMEC Foster Wheeler.
Grand Bend Wind Farm, which is expected to be operational in 2016, consists of 2,428 hectares hugging the eastern shore of Lake Huron. It will provide 100 MW of total generation capacity, which will power over 30,000 homes. The wind farm is a joint project between Northland Power, the Aamjiwannang First Nation of Sarnia, and the Bkejwanong First Nation at Walpole.
The Grand Bend project has been awarded a contract by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) under its Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program, in which the OPA agrees to buy renewable energy generated by eligible projects at fixed prices under long term contracts.
“This is a pivotal accomplishment for Nexans. This project was worked on for over seven years, with a global team from Canada, the US and Germany,” commented Dirk Steinbrink, senior executive VP, High Voltage & Underwater Cable Business
