Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has awarded a contract to French transmission company Nexans to construct Dubai’s first extra high voltage underground cable system.
 
Dewa is currently constructing a new 400/132kV substation at Mamzar Beach.

The Nexans project will link this substation to two existing high voltage substations at Mushriff and Nahda via cables installed below the streets of Dubai in specially constructed concrete tunnels, complete with ventilation and fire protection systems.

The $119m turnkey contract includes the supply and installation of around 60 kilometres of 400kV cable and associated accessories, as well as the construction of the underground cable tunnels.

Nexans installed a similar project in Abu Dhabi in 2003 and another in Qatar in 2007, which was the first of its kind in the country.

The cable will be manufactured by Nexans’ facility in Charleroi, Belgium. It will feature a 2,500 square millimetres conductor with enamelled copper wires.