wiredinUSA July 2020

Cable landing put on pause

Crete-Attica interconnection

Image courtesy of Prysmian Group

The decision to grant a license for a transatlantic fiber optic cable to come ashore in Clew Bay, Ireland, has been rescinded. A Clare Island fisherman has initiated a High Court challenge over the granting of the license by the Department of Planning and Local Government for the Irish spur of a multi-million-euro project connecting Europe with the US. The consortium is America Europe Connect 2 Limited (AECL), with Google and Facebook among the companies involved in the project. Construction teams had been on standby, in isolation, in County Mayo waiting to start work on the Irish section of the cable system. In his action, James O’Toole claims the shortest possible route to Ireland’s shore was selected even though it is through areas of rocky seabed where the cable cannot be buried. He said the route is also through sensitive fishing grounds in Clew Bay, as well as the narrow channel between Achill and Clare islands where protected endangered species, including bottle-nosed dolphins and Brent geese, are known to live.

Prysmian Group has a two-phase contract with Ariadne Interconnection, a company fully owned by the Greek transmission system operator IPTO. The project is for submarine interconnections between Crete and the Attica region of mainland Greece. The first phase involves the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a 335km turn-key HVDC (high voltage direct current) cable system, designed to transmit 1,000MW and consisting of 500kV mass impregnated insulation and double wire armoring. The second phase involves the design, supply, installation and commissioning of two submarine telecommunication links for a total length of 670km between Crete island and Attica region. Prysmian will use its own vessels for the cable laying. Commissioning for both projects is scheduled for sometime between 2020 and 2023.

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wiredInUSA - July 2020