Cable as Europe's Backbone: Between the Energy Transition, Digitalization, and Global Demand

The European wire and cable market is in a phase of extraordinary expansion. The market is estimated at around USD 36 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to USD 61 billion by 2034. 

What is driving this growth? It is not short-term cyclical effects, but structural, politically anchored mega-trends that reinforce one another: the EU alone provided approximately USD 5.4 billion in 2023 for the modernization of power grids — flanked by massive private investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure. 

The market is anything but homogeneous. Different segments are growing at different speeds, different countries play different roles — and technological leadership clearly resides in Europe. 

The Energy Transition as the Main Driver: The High-Voltage Revolution 

The strongest growth segment in the European cable industry is high-voltage transmission, particularly in the area of HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current). Underground and subsea cable systems are a core technology for achieving Europe's climate neutrality goals: they interconnect European electricity generation systems and bridge the gap between renewable energy sources and consumption centers. 

Concrete projects illustrate the scale of this transformation impressively. The SuedLink project — a 700-kilometer HVDC connection from the northern German coast to Bavaria in the south — exemplifies the new era of energy infrastructure. 

Even larger are the contracts awarded in the context of Germany's grid expansion: NKT and Prysmian jointly secured contracts worth approximately EUR 4.6 billion from German transmission system operator 50Hertz — including offshore wind farm export cables, onshore energy connections, and connections for an energy island. In addition, there are massive contracts from German grid operator Amprion. 

These projects are not isolated German cases but reflect a pan-European trend. In March 2025, Nexans secured a framework agreement with French grid operator RTE for the planning, manufacturing, and delivery of HVDC cables — including 450 kilometers of high-voltage submarine cable and 280 kilometers of onshore high-voltage cable for the connection of the Centre Manche 1 and 2 offshore wind farms and the Oleron wind farm. 

The global HVDC cable market is growing correspondingly dynamically: from USD 9.6 billion in 2024, it is expected to reach USD 59.9 billion by 2034 — at an annual growth rate of 24.3%. 

Europe's Cable Manufacturers: Technology Leaders Under Capacity Pressure 

The European cable industry is a global leader. The companies Prysmian (from Italy), Nexans (from France), and NKT (from Denmark) embody European technological leadership while simultaneously facing a common challenge: the demand boom currently far exceeds available production capacity. 

The industry's response has been massive capacity investments. Prysmian announced a capacity expansion by 2027, including doubling production of 525 kV submarine cables and 400 kV AC cables by 2026. Nexans, in turn, is investing in expanding its capacity for the European offshore wind market and is building a new cable-laying vessel. 

Alongside the big three, there is a broad landscape of highly specialized European mid-sized companies: from Poland, for example, TELE-FONIKA Kable, which has established itself as Eastern Europe's leading HVDC cable manufacturer; the traditional German company LEONI, which specializes in cables for the automotive industry and industrial automation; and HELUKABEL, also from Germany, as a provider of industrial connection technologies. Together, these companies form the backbone of a European value chain that covers everything from raw material processing to the installed cable connection. 

Fiber Optics & Telecommunications: The Second Major Growth Field 

Parallel to the high-voltage segment, the European fiber optic cable industry is experiencing a boom. Broadband expansion, 5G rollouts, and the growth of data centers are generating a structural increase in demand for optical fibers and fiber optic cables. Europe's cities are transforming into connected urban centers — from electric local transport connections to intelligent lighting systems and automated buildings: each of these developments depends on a high-performance cable infrastructure. 

The EU is actively driving this change. The Gigabit Infrastructure Act, as well as the expansion of 5G networks and submarine communication cable networks (EU Cable Security Action Plan), are central pillars of European digital policy — with direct implications for demand for telecommunications cables. Europacable, the leading industry association for the European cable industry, accompanies this development as a political actor in Brussels, actively negotiating on topics such as fiber optic expansion, data security, and standards for underground fiber optic networks. 

Electromobility: A New, Rapidly Growing Cable Segment 

Another structural growth driver is electromobility. The increasing number of electric vehicles in Europe and the parallel expansion of charging infrastructure are generating a new kind of cable demand that differs significantly in its technical specifications from conventional applications. More than 500,000 public EV charging stations are to be established across Europe by 2025 — requiring special heat-resistant and highly flexible high-performance cables for fast charging stations. 

According to the IEA report 2025, electric vehicle sales rose by more than 25% in 2024 and exceeded 17 million units worldwide. For European cable manufacturers, this means not only new product categories, but also new customer groups: automotive companies, charging network operators, and public utilities are increasingly among the customers of an industry that was traditionally more associated with energy and construction.

Sustainability: From Obligation to Strategic Differentiation 

The cable industry has recognized that sustainability is no longer a niche topic but is increasingly becoming a decisive competitive factor. This applies both on the product side — with the development of cables made from recycled or low-CO₂ materials — and on the production side, where energy efficiency and emissions reduction have become strategic priorities. 

NKT provides a concrete example: NKT concluded an agreement to use low-carbon-footprint copper for the 320 kV HVDC cables delivered to the Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm in the North Sea — the third phase of the world's largest offshore wind farm. Prysmian similarly focuses on integrating sustainability into its HVDC projects, and is increasingly providing evidence of the carbon footprint of its cable production in tenders. 

Europacable positions sustainability as a central industry concern: high-quality, sustainably produced energy and telecommunications cables from European manufacturing are said to be the key to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The association is actively engaged in EU regulation on CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), ESPR (Ecodesign Regulation), the circular economy, and the EU Digital Product Passport — all regulatory frameworks that will have profound effects on the production, material selection, and market access of European cable manufacturers. 

Raw material security is also coming into focus as a sustainability issue: copper and aluminum, the main materials used in cable production, are subject to strong price fluctuations and geopolitical dependencies. Many European countries have no domestic copper refining capacity, increasingly forcing the industry to diversify its procurement strategies. The development of aluminum-based cable products as an alternative to copper is therefore gaining importance throughout the industry. 

Shared Challenges: Capacity Bottlenecks and Supply Chain Risks 

Despite the positive growth dynamics, the European cable industry faces significant structural challenges. The most important bottleneck at present is production capacity: demand for high-voltage cables exceeds supply, leading to extended delivery times and rising prices. New production facilities for cables are not expected to come online before 2026 — building a new production plant typically takes three to four years. This means the current capacity bottleneck cannot be fully resolved in the short term. 

At the same time, competition from Asia is growing. Asian companies — including Hengtong and Orient Cable from China — are increasingly winning offshore wind projects in Europe and South Korea. For European manufacturers, this means that technological leadership, quality standards, and local production presence are becoming ever more important as differentiating factors against lower-priced Asian competitors. 

The volatility of raw material prices — particularly for copper and aluminum — remains a permanent risk that affects margins and cost planning certainty. European cable manufacturers are responding with long-term supply contracts, vertical integration, and increased use of aluminum as a substitute material. 

For trade visitors from across Europe, wire 2028 offers a unique opportunity to experience the technology trends of the coming years up close: HVDC cable developments, new material solutions for e-mobility, fiber optic technologies for gigabit expansion, and sustainable manufacturing processes first-hand. The wire is more than a sales platform — it is the place where European cable engineers, buyers, grid operators, and manufacturers define the standards and technologies that will shape Europe's energy system and digital infrastructure in the decades to come. 

The timing could hardly be better chosen. Europe stands at the beginning of an investment wave in cable infrastructure whose scale is historically unprecedented. The cable — long the inconspicuous connecting element in the background — has become a strategic asset of the 21st century. 

Learn more about cables at the next wire & Tube, taking place 2028, in Düsseldorf. Current industry and product information is available at www.wire.de 

Further Information and Sources 

• Europacable (European Industry Association): https://europacable.eu  

• wire 2028: https://www.wire.de/  

• Mordor Intelligence – European Wire & Cable Market: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/europe-wire-and-cable-market  

• GMInsights – European Wire & Cable Market: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/europe-wire-and-cable-market  

• IEA – Building the Future Transmission Grid: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/...  

• NKT: https://www.nkt.com/news-press  

• Prysmian Group: https://www.prysmiangroup.com/en/media  

• Nexans: https://www.nexans.com/en/media  

• Lobbyfacts: https://www.lobbyfacts.eu/...  

• Manufacturing Today: https://manufacturing-today.com/  

• Global Market Insights: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/europe-wire-and-cable-market  

• Skyquestt: https://www.skyquestt.com/report/europe-wire-and-cable-market