A delayed U.S. offshore wind farm has Nexans looking to Europe for buyers for its undersea electric cables made in South Carolina, CEO Christopher Guérin said.
The Charleston factory had been scheduled to make cables in 2026 for Equinor to connect one of its U.S. offshore wind farms that was delayed, he said in an interview. So Nexans is offering the excess production capacity to offshore wind developers in Europe, where there’s strong demand for underwater high-voltage cables.
“All nations are waking up at the same time, asking for the same thing,” Guérin said. “So each time there is a delay in one country, it’s an opportunity for another one.”
The world desperately needs undersea cables, both for connecting offshore wind farms to land and for carrying clean energy between countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. offshore wind industry continues to face difficulties including inflation and the threat of a second Trump administration hostile to offshore wind.
