wiredInUSA April 2016

INDEX

Accurate Wire’s 60,000ft 2 Branford facility

HVDC project

Accurate acquisition

Siemens is to supply eight converter transformers for the Nemo Link project, a 1,000MW HVDC transmission system connecting Belgium and the UK. The customer is Nemo Link, a joint venture between National Grid Nemo Link Ltd, a subsidiary company of the UK’s National Grid Plc, and the Belgian Elia Group. Commercial operation of the link is scheduled to begin in 2019. The scope of supply comprises eight transformers, each with a power rating of 365MVA. Fully assembledand installed, each transformer weighs 448 tons, and measures 17m x 4.1m x 10.6m - not including the cooling systems. The rated voltage of these large transformers is 400/470/20.2kV with a transmission voltage of ±400kV DC via the HVDC system. The transformers will first be transported from the Nuremberg transformer plant to Nuremberg’s inland harbor, then by inland waterway barge through the Europa Canal system to Antwerp and Bruges. Four of the power transformers will be brought by heavy-lift transport totheprojectconstruction site in Herdersburg, near Bruges. The other four transformers will be loaded onto a roll-on roll-off vessel, shipped to Ramsgate in England and then transported by heavy-lift trailer to the project site in Richborough, 20kmwest of Canterbury.

Luvata has purchased Accurate Wire Inc. Luvata will assume the long term lease on Accurate Wire’s 60,000ft 2 Branford facility, along with ownership of all rolling, wire drawing, annealing and in-line eddy current and laser inspection equipment. Jussi Helavirta, president of Luvata special productsdivision, commented: “Combined with the manufacturing know-how and capacityof our long-termpartner Accurate Wire, Luvata is well prepared in meeting the expanding needs of our combined wire customers worldwide.” “This is good news for Accurate Wire, Luvata, and our customers,” said Douglas Milheim, co-founder and president of Accurate Wire. “We have had a good, long-standing relationship with Luvata for ten years. Nowas part of the LuvataGroup, a more vertically integrated business with a much larger global footprint, we will thrive.”

wiredInUSA - April 2016

31