Cable contract for Nexans

, the worldwide leader in the cable industry, has been awarded an €8m contract by the

(ITD) to supply 33kV submarine cables.

The cables will be used for a project providing a number of new power interconnections between islands in Krabi Province in southern Thailand, on the shore of the Andaman Sea.

The project, on behalf of Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), is for the 33kV submarine cable extension to Koh Siboya, Koh Pu, Koh Phi Phi Don, Raile Bay and Koh Lanta in Krabi province.

The work is part of an overall scheme to develop Thailand’s power infrastructure, with specific focus on providing increased capacity and improved security for its islands. This is being driven by Thailand’s rapidly accelerating growth in tourism and subsequent exponential increase in power consumption. PEA anticipates that additional power capacity will continue to grow by 10 to 15 per cent per annum.

For this project, Nexans will supply, in two lengths, over 33.3km of XLPE insulated, lead sheathed, copper conductor three-core 33kV submarine cable, with an integrated fibre optic element.

A single 3.8km length of cable, with a cross-section of 120mm², will be used for the Raile Bay crossing. The remainder of the cable, with a cross-section of 185mm², will be used to create three power links between the islands of Koh Pu, Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Siboya - total approximate length of 27km - as well as the 2.5km Koh Lanta island interconnection.

The submarine cables will be manufactured at Nexans’ Halden plant in

and will be delivered in October 2008. They will be installed by ITD’s Marine department.