Cabling specialist Nexans will supply 90 percent of the cabling for the Cestas solar farm in France, consisting of 5000 kilometres of medium and low voltage Energyflex PV cables.
Eiffage Energie awarded Nexans the contract which will see the company manufacture and supply PV cables and data cables for the Cestas solar farm. The facility will generate more than 350 GWh per year with a peak capacity of 300 MW and will consist of approximately one million solar panels covering 250 hectares of land and divided into 25 separate solar plants. It will be connected to the grid in October 2015.
The cabling will provide durable high performance in-field connections between the PV panels and the inverters thereby transforming the solar energy into usable AC electricity. The cables were developed specially by Nexans in order to meet the increasing demand for reliable, efficient cabling in the specialised PV market.
“Eiffage Energie chose Nexans because of its full range offer from low and medium voltage cables to photovoltaic cables for this project” said Fernando Dos Santos, Photovoltaic Projects Manager at Eiffage Energie. “Another important factor was that Nexans offers advanced supply chain solutions and direct delivery to site.”
Eiffage Energie operates on behalf of Clemessy which pilots a consortium of several investors including Neoen, formed to build, operate and maintain the farm. The cables are being manufactured at the Bourg-en-Bresse, Jeumont and Andrézieux plants in France and will be installed during the course of the summer this year.
Nexans specialises in the manufacture of cables and cabling solutions for power transmission and distribution, energy, transportation and building. The company became the first cable player to create a Foundation to introduce sustained initiatives for access to energy for disadvantaged communities worldwide. It has a presence in 40 countries and commercial activities worldwide and employs around 26,000 people.