500 kV / 600 MW HVDC submarine interconnection between Partanna (Sicily) and Mlaabi (Cap Bon, Tunisia), total route length ~220 km of which about 200 km is undersea cable, with underground land sections linking the landing points to the converter stations.
Prysmian was awarded the main cable contract for the ELMED Italy–Tunisia interconnection by Terna S.p.A., in partnership with the Tunisian utility STEG, following an international tender. The approximately €460 million contract covers the design, manufacture, supply and installation of a 500 kV, 600 MW HVDC cable system forming the submarine power interconnection between the Partanna substation in Sicily and the Mlaabi substation on Tunisia’s Cap Bon peninsula. The link has a total route length of about 220 km, including roughly 200 km of submarine cable across the Strait of Sicily and underground land sections on both shores connecting the landfalls to the converter stations. Installation operations will be performed using Prysmian’s Monna Lisa cable‑laying vessel. The cable system is the core transmission asset of the bi‑directional ELMED interconnector, which will link the Italian and Tunisian grids and enable power exchange between Europe and North Africa.