LS C&S to invest $683 million in Virginia submarine cable plant

LS Cable & System will invest $682.7 million in a Virginia facility to produce high-voltage subsea cables for offshore wind farms.

A rendered image of LS Cable & System's submarine cable facility in Chesapeake, Virginia. [LS CABLE & SYSTEM]

LS Cable & System (LS C&S) will invest $682.7 million to build a submarine cable manufacturing facility in Virginia, the largest of its kind in the United States.

The Korean cable maker said Wednesday that it would direct the $682.7 million to LS GreenLink, its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, to construct the factory in a 397,000-square-meter (98-acre) site in Chesapeake near the Port of Virginia.

The facility will produce high-voltage subsea cables, which are used on offshore wind farms.

It will also include a 200-meter (656-foot) cable production tower, the world's highest, which is also called the vertical continuous vulcanization, or VCV, tower.

“High-voltage submarine cables are large and thick,” a spokesperson for LS C&S said, adding that they “must be produced vertically as the key is how long the cables can be manufactured.”

Construction will start in 2025, with a goal of finishing the construction in 2027. The new factory is projected to create 338 new jobs.

LS Cable will be granted $48 million in incentives and tax credits from the state government. Combining the $99 million it will receive from the U.S. Energy Department under the Inflation Reduction Act, the aid totals $147 million, the largest received by any cable manufacturer in the U.S. market.

Submarine cables are around three times pricier than general cables. The global subsea cable market is expected to double to $4.5 billion in 2025 from $2.3 billion in 2021, according to LS C&S.

France's Nexans recently converted its South Carolina cable facility to a subsea cable facility. Italy's Prysmian is also constructing one in Massachusetts.

“This state-of-the-art facility represents our commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and engineering,” said LS C&S President and CEO Koo Bon-kyu. “This facility will not only enhance our capability to meet the growing global demands for submarine power cables, but will also position us at the forefront of the industry.”

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]