This non-metallic armored cable, which was designed with a composite material based on High Modulus Synthetic Fibers, shapes the new generation of cable technology. The use of an innovative armoring solution that in water can be 50% lighter than steel, combined with the state-of-the-art Leonardo da Vinci cable-laying vessel, will enable the installation and maintenance of Terna’s Tyrrhenian Link at a water depth of more than 2,000 m, the deepest ever reached with a power cable.
The success of the sea trials is the result of many laboratory tests and proves once more the solidity of Prysmian innovations. The same light weight armor technology had been in fact used in 2019 for the Evia–Andros-Tinos interconnection at a water depth of 550 m and in 2020 for the Crete-Peloponnese submarine interconnection project at 1,000 m.
The cable will be employed for the Tyrrhenian Link, a €1.7 billion project awarded in 2021 by Terna S.p.A. Under the contract, Prysmian will design, supply, and install a total of over 1,500 km of submarine cables to support the power exchange among Sardinia, Sicily, and Campania, thus reinforcing the Mediterranean energy hub.
