Prysmian receives Marinus Link nod

ITALIAN power cable manufacturer and layer Prysmian has received a formal Notice to Proceed with the Marinus Link between Tasmania and Victoria. 

The $5.5 billion project, which will construct, operate and decommission a 1,500 MW subsea and underground electricity and fibre optics interconnector and related infrastructure in two 750 MW stages, is now expected to get underway next year after a series of delays. 

At the end of July the Tasmanian, federal and Victorian governments announced they had made a final investment decision to proceed with the first stage of the project, with the respective shareholders holding 17%, 49% and 33%.  

On Friday [29 August] Prysmian announced it had received the official green light to proceed with their €600 million ($1.1 billion) contract, originally signed in August 2024.  

At that time Marinus Link advised that Prysmian had secured a key cable supply-and-install contract for the interconnector, with cable-layer Leonardo da Vinci to undertake the 255 km undersea component of the laying of the cables between Gippsland in Victoria and Heybridge in Tasmania. The total span is 345 km, which includes 90 km of underground cables in Gippsland. 

Prysmian will design, test, supply and install a HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) cable system, consisting of 320 kV single-core cables with XLPE insulation and single- wire armouring, covering both submarine and land sections. Prysmian will also provide a fully integrated PRY-CAM permanent monitoring system.