EU's first Net-Zero Industry project will spur 'world's largest' cable plant
NKT factory in Sweden will serve booming market for undersea power cables
The European Union has recognised the expansion of NKT’s high-voltage power cable factory in Karlskrona, Sweden, as the first strategic project under the EU Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), a flagship piece of legislation that aims to boost the bloc's manufacturing capacity for green while enhancing competitiveness and creating jobs.
As a net zero strategic project, the Karlskrona expansion earns national priority status, with accelerated administrative treatment and faster permitting, the Danish manufacturer stated.
Aggressive offshore wind targets in several European nations have helped generate demand for all kinds of submarine power cables, including a major shift to high-voltage direct current systems as part of the European superhighway, and this has stimulated a wave of investments in subsea cables production.
As part of its own argument that such an expansion in offshore wind does not justify a big increase in imported cables, cables industry association Europacable mapped over €4bn ($4.1bn) of investments announced in European subsea cable manufacturing and installation in 2023-24, and said this alone will be enough to double capacity by 2030.
World's biggest
NKT says its investments in substantially expanding its Karlskrona facility will make the site the world's largest manufacturing facility for high-voltage offshore power cables.
A 200-metre extrusion tower there is capable of producing power cables of up to 640kV, and the Danish company is also expanding a factory in Germany.
NKT said recognition under the NZIA "underscores the strategic importance of subsea power cables in decarbonising Europe and interconnecting its power grids to strengthen the security of supply".
"This is a testimony of our investments and innovations to meet the high demand for power cables and a recognition of the strong ecosystem of offshore and power grid technology in Blekinge and Sweden," stated NKT's CEO Claes Westerlind.
Sweden has played a pioneering role in developing and deploying high-voltage direct current cable technology, and deployed the first ever HVDC subsea cable to connect Gotland in 1954. NKT said the country remains at the cutting edge of HVDC research and development
The EU NZIA aims to support scaling up production of clean energy technologies that contribute to the EU's goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
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