Muckle advise on £48m Jersey sub-sea cabling plan

Newcastle law firm, Muckle LLP have advised on a series of sub-sea engineering deals worth £48m.

The firm has advised Jersey Electricity PLC on a project that will provide Jersey with a third submarine power cable from France, enabling access to low carbon electricity.

A €40m.6m deal with Prysmian Group will see 35km of High Voltage Alternate Current submarine cable, and a separate £5m contract with English subsidiary, Prysmian Cables and Systems Limited will see 7km of 90,000 volt land cable installed.

The cabling will connect the island with a substation at Periers, entering the sea at Pirou Plage on the French coast and coming ashore in Grouville Bay in Jersey.

The legal advice and negotiations were led by Robert Langley, partner and head of Muckle LLP’s Construction and Engineering Team, and assisted by Alan Ross, associate solicitor. The submarine and land based cables were procured under amended FIDIC ‘Yellow Book’ forms of engineering contract.

The work involved some intense negotiation with Prysmian’s Italian legal team and their French commercial manager over an eight week period from December 2012 to February 2013. Since these contracts were completed in February this year, Muckle LLP has also advised on a further two ancillary contracts supporting the cable link to France.

Associate Solicitor, Alan Ross, from Muckle’s Construction and Engineering Team explained: “We advised on and negotiated a reactor contract, in relation to power generation, which was between Jersey Electricity and ABB Limited. We then negotiated a further control and protection contract with Schneider Electric Limited, based on an amended MF/1 engineering contract.”

Robert Langley, head of the construction and engineering team, added: “We worked hard to secure favourable terms for Jersey Electricity, helping to negotiate the successful completion of these contracts for all parties. The work to manufacture the cable for the sub-sea connection is now underway at Prysmian’s facility in Naples, with a view to this new supply being connected next year and be in service during 2015.

“We appreciate the importance and significance of this development, not just for Jersey Electricity and the other organisations involved, but also for the Channel Islands. We look forward to working with the team at Jersey Electricity in the future.”

Tony Ronayne, procurement manager at Jersey Electricity, said: “My thanks go to the team at Muckle LLP for their expertise and tireless efforts on these negotiations. Their understanding of the projects and, in particular, Alan’s skill in negotiating these contracts meant they were completed to the satisfaction of all parties and the project got underway on time.

“The Normandie 3 project has been ten years in the making so it’s a great milestone that’s been reached. We are on track to provide a vital new energy supply to the Channel Islands.”