Denmark-based power cable supplier NKT plans to invest 1 billion euros in its high-voltage power cables business to support contracts worth 7 billion euros that have been awarded by March 2023.

The investments, to be made between 2023 and 2025, will be used to significantly expand its production site in Karlskrona, Sweden and a new cable-laying vessel. NKT plans to build a new plant in Karlskrona, including a third 200m extrusion tower, to increase end-to-end production capacity next to the existing facility.

The expansion, which is expected to be operational by 2027, will make the site one of the world's largest production sites for high-voltage offshore cables. The investment will improve its ability to meet growing demand for high voltage DC power cable solutions.

Claes Westerlind, President and CEO of NKT, said: “Order awards and commitments from our customers in recent months underscore our leadership in turnkey solutions, XLPE and HVDC technologies.

Power cables are a key enabler of the transition to renewable energy sources, and current high-voltage production and installation capacity is insufficient to meet the growing demand of the market. We are pleased to continue to develop NKT in line with our strategic goals and continue to develop turnkey power cable products for our customers.

NKT's previous investment program has created more than 300 new jobs at the Karlskrona plant since 2020. With the latest investment, the company expects to create more than 500 new jobs by 2027.

In April 2023, NKT won an order of 500 million euros to provide high-voltage direct current transmission and offshore export cable systems for the Hornsea 3 wind farm project in the UK, which is expected to generate 3GW of clean energy. The company is now undertaking the task of designing, manufacturing, connecting and terminating power cable systems for export.Editor/XingWentao