Nexans officially celebrates grand opening of Goose Creek plant

GOOSE CREEK, S.C.–Two years after breaking ground for the construction of a new plant in Berkeley County, Nexans officially celebrated the opening of its Goose Creek facility Wednesday.

The plant will produce high voltage power cables and is expected to create 200 manufacturing jobs over the next few years. The 350,000 square foot plant will serve the growing demand for HV power systems in North America fueled by major new power transmission infrastructure projects.

“Thrilled to celebrate Nexans, a high voltage cable manufacturer, calling South Carolina home,” stated Governor Nikki Haley via her official Facebook page. “This amazing company has invested $85 million in Berkeley County. The tower at Nexans is now the tallest structure in the state. Another fun day in South Carolina”

Haley along wth Nexans Chief Executive Officer, Arnaud Poupart-Lafarge and Steve Hall, Executive Vice President Nexans North America took place in a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the plant.

“The opening of the new Goose Creek plant represents an exciting new phase for Nexans and is an important milestone for the company as we look to capitalize on the growing demand for high voltage cables in North America. With the opening of this new plant, Nexans is best-placed to serve the major new power transmission infrastructure projects currently being planned in North America today,” stated Poupart-Lafarge.

The plant will focus on the engineering, design and installation of HV cables. The new 427 feet Vertical Continuous Vulcanization (VCV) tower on site, used for converting polymers into insulation layers in order to protect the cable, is now the tallest building in South Carolina.

“In the initial development phase, we were confident that the Charleston region was the perfect place to build a new plant. Now that the plant is open for business, we are more convinced than ever that it was the right move. A pro-business environment, a highly-skilled local labor force and with exceptional technical schools and training programs, mean Nexans is ideally placed to meet the growing demand for high voltage cables in North America,” stated Hall.

Health and safety have been priorities for Nexans during the building of this plant. There are no underground storage tanks and the substation transformers are dry to avoid potential soil contamination. Nexans has put in place additional measures to protect employees, including the lower level of the tower that was designed to serve as a shelter in the event of a hurricane.

The plant is equipped with the facilities for type testing cables up to 550 kV according to North American and international standards.

The new plant in South Carolina will reinforce Nexans’ current product range in North America, adding to the existing medium voltage, low voltage, overhead transmission, industrial, building wire, electrical wire and Local Area Network (LAN) portfolios. In 2013, North America represented 14%* of the Group’s total sales with more than 3000 people employed.