Malta Sicily

About the project

In 2010, Nexans was awarded an ambitious 178 million Euro turnkey contract by Enemalta Corporation, the state-owned energy authority in Malta, to design, manufacture, install and provide seabed protection of the new high-voltage AC (Alternating Current) subsea power link between Malta and Sicily. The contract included a 220kV substation on Malta.

The 100 km subsea cable, with a capacity of 200 MW, provides Malta with its first power interconnection with mainland Europe, reducing the island’s reliance on local generation and increasing its security of electrical power supply. The 220kV interconnector is providing the capability to deliver continuously at least 200 MW at the receiving end in any direction, to allow the import and export of power between Malta and Sicily as required. The subsea cable runs for 100 km from Qalet-Marku in Malta to Marina di Ragusa on the coast of Sicily, where an additional 25 km of underground cable completes the connection to the Ragusa substation.

Nexans' solution

The 220 kV 3x630mm2 subsea cables with XLPE insulation were manufactured in Nexans’ specialized subsea cable factory in Halden, Norway. Installation was carried out by Nexans’ own cable laying ship, the C/S Nexans Skagerrak. The cables were installed in the Malta-Sicily channel at water depths of 150 meters and the cables buried to around 1 meter below the seabed.

The subsea cable included two Fibre Optic elements each with 36 fibres. The FO elements were manufactured in the Nexans factory in Rognan, Norway.

The underground cables for the land sections of the interconnector were manufactured by Nexans in France.