The financing represents about half of the investments Prysmian Group has planned in Europe through 2024.

February 18, 2022

Prysmian Group has announced the finalisation of the financing of EUR 135 million (~USD 153.68 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The funding is primarily aimed at supporting the Group’s 2021-2024 R&D plans in the European market.

The chief areas that will be benefited from the EIB financing are:

Industrial research: Research on innovative materials including nanotechnologies, systems for the monitoring of land and submarine power grids and of LV power systems, new cables, and materials that are sustainable and hybrid energy and telecom cables.
Innovation and experimentation: The use of alternative materials for cable design and product project optimisation, and use of innovative technologies.
New products development: Submarine power transmission cable systems for installation at high depths; P-Laser Extra High Voltage land and submarine power transmission cable systems; cables for the offshore renewable energy sector; cables for e-mobility; high-performance optical fibres, cables for FTTH and FTTA, and connectivity; development of smart cable systems and sensing solutions for fault location, monitoring, and management of power grids.
Digital transformation and sustainability: Development of machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions for enhanced quality in the cable manufacturing process, and implementation of digital solutions through IoT Industry 4.0 technologies.

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The financing represents about half of the investments planned in Europe till 2024. Globally, the cable systems leader allocates about EUR 100 million (~USD 113.81 million) per year for research and development.

Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice President of the EIB, comments, “The agreement signed with Prysmian aims at developing technological innovations via cable-based on sustainability criteria in order to reduce the consumption of raw materials, the generation of waste, and CO2 emissions.”

The EIB financing will support R&D projects in five European countries including France, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Italy. A significant part of the funding is earmarked for Italy where the Prysmian Group’s headquarters, R&D offices, and several plants manufacturing optical fibres and submarine power transmission cables are located. The energy and telecom cable leader has 26 R&D centres in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

Also Read: Prysmian Eases the Path to FTTX and 5G Network Deployments with 180 µm Fibre Cables

Speaking on the role of the financing in supporting the R&D activities, Srini Siripurapu, Chief R&D Officer and Chief Innovation Officer Prysmian Group, says, “Our Group’s growth strategy revolves around our commitment to R&D, an area where we intend to increase our investments further, also thanks to the funding from the EIB.”