Maillefer Extrusion Sees Great Potential in Indian Renewable Power Transfer Sector

Maillefer Extrusion’s innovations usually set industry standards, which is a result of their constant focus on R&D. Using digitalization and AI, the company has recently introduced a topography scanner and digital scanning computer software and plans to develop a fully unmanned production system, making censoring in production lines completely independent of human intervention. The global technology leader has had a presence in India for decades and sees a huge growth potential here at the backdrop of India making huge investments in building power transfer infrastructure for renewable energy. Mr. Veikko Nieminen, Sales Director, Maillefer Extrusion Oy, revealed this and much more during an exclusive interaction with Wire & Cable India.

Wire & Cable India: Maillefer is known to incorporate Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things in its operations. Please elaborate.

Veikko Nieminen: The innovations we see today in the wire and cable industry are the innovations done by Maillefer, some 20-30 years ago. Now they have become a sort of industrial standard, being followed by other companies. The innovations we are making today will become industrial standards in the next 10-20 years. This is the result of our constant focus on research and development.

We have a significant R&D department, which is continuously developing new products and working towards fully autonomous production lines. We invest around 6 percent of our revenue in R&D, which helps in retaining our leadership position. Around 80 percent of R&D today is centered around digitalization and AI. When we talk about AI, it implies autonomous lines, power transfer technology, HV cables and power cables. We also manufacture production lines for optical fibre cable manufacturing and have been able to make them already fully autonomous. Our ultimate target is to develop a fully unmanned cable production system, making censoring in production lines completely independent of operator or human intervention.

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WCI: Please share information about your patented technologies or solutions for the EHV cable segment. Kindly share information about your footprint globally and in India for the segment.

VN: When it comes to Extra High Voltage (EHV) cables, what we are actually talking about is modern power transfer technology and assets required for renewable energy transfer, such as solar and wind power. At the international level, green investments have been taking a giant leap for the last 5-10 years. Europe is spending a substantial amount on offshore wind power, so we have developed many products for power cable production there.

In the last three years, Europe has made heavy investments in extra high voltage subsea cable production. New, extra high voltage VCV vertical towers have come up in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Greece and many other countries are also building catenary towers. At Maillefer, we have 100 percent market share in Europe for all subsea extra high voltage cables production lines. We are proud to say that Maillefer is the sole supplier for this segment in Europe.

It started during the Covid-19 pandemic when all the cable producers realized that the continent would soon need significantly increased number of subsea cables and that they don’t have enough production capacity. So, the cable manufacturing companies started enhancing their capabilities and investing in new production lines. We were not only ready for this but were waiting for this to happen since we had foreseen the deficit in EHV cable products.

Our range for extra high voltage cable products goes beyond 200 kilovolts. In India, we have witnessed an increase in power transfer voltages going all the way up to 500 kilovolt products. Maillefer has been the technological leader in this industry for decades and is looking forward to increased demand in this segment.

Talking about power cable production, we are witnessing an increase in their voltage and insulation thickness, calling for an increase in the sizes of machines & extruders. The subsea cable segment is witnessing a continuous rise in the length of cable products. An extended cable production length leads to a smaller number of joints and better quality.

We have developed bigger extruders for power cable production and are currently promoting a 225 mm extruder in India. Many customers have shown interest in it. Most of our innovations are related to extra high voltage cable production.

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WCI: What growth prospects does Maillefer see in India?

VN: The Indian economy is experiencing steady growth, with companies, stock exchanges and businesses showing an upward trend. We are very happy to see India making huge investments in building power transfer infrastructure for renewable energy, such as solar and wind power. This increase of green energy is the driving force for our business at Maillefer, not only in India, but globally as well.

We have been in this country for decades now and are known by all major Indian cable companies. We are having intensive discussions regarding new production lines for Indian customers. All these new innovations are no more prototypes but are already in production in Europe, so we are able to bring this whole technology to India and they seem to appreciate it because it makes their production much easier and more secure. Since these are extremely capital-intensive investments, the Indian customers feel very comfortable in buying lines from Maillefer because they know that the technology they are getting is highly reliable and the latest technology available in the marketplace.

WCI: What have been your recent innovations and developments for the industry?

VN: We have introduced a topography scanner to the market, based on Artificial Intelligence. The machine maps the cable surface and captures a 360-degree image, which helps us to take measurements and store data in the computer at a very fast pace. This enables us to check for possible problems in the cable surface, while the product is still in online production. Earlier, this was noticed only after production was already made and in extreme cases, one had to scrap a big amount of cable. Now we can immediately detect if there are some particles on the cable surface or byproducts from the production process and make corrective actions. This is a very important innovation in order to improve the production quality.