Europe’s largest solar farm will be connected with Nexans’ Energyflex photovoltaic cables after Eiffage Energie awarded Nexans the contract to supply 90% of the cables for the Cestas solar farm in France. As part of the contract, Nexans will manufacture and supply approximately 5,000km of medium-voltage and low-voltage, photovoltaic cables (PV) and data cables (optical fibre).
The solar farm, located near Bordeaux in south-west France, will generate more than 350GWh a year with a peak capacity of 300MW. Eiffage Energie operates on behalf of Clemessy, which pilots a consortium of several investors, including Neoen, formed to build, operate and maintain the farm.
Approximately one million solar panels will cover 250ha of land divided into 25 solar plants. The farm will be connected to the grid in October 2015.
Nexans’ Energyflex cables will provide durable, high-performance in-field connections between the PV panels and the inverters that will transform the solar energy into usable AC electricity. Energyflex cables were developed by Nexans to meet the increasing demand for reliable, efficient cables in the specialised photovoltaic market.
Eiffage Energie photovoltaic projects manager Fernando Dos Santos said: "Eiffage Energie chose Nexans because of its full range offer from low and medium-voltage cables to photovoltaic cables for this project. Another important factor was that Nexans offers advanced supply chain solutions and direct delivery to site."
The cables are being manufactured at the Bourg-en-Bresse, Jeumont and Andrézieux plants in France. Installation is due to be completed by late 2015.
For more information, please cotnact Nexans.