Interview with Christophe Terisse, Director of the Autun site: Looking back at a key investment to produce Nexans Protect fire safety cable

Fire safety is not just one topic among many. It directly impacts the protection of people, service continuity, and regulatory compliance. With this in mind, the Nexans Autun site is mobilizing around a major challenge: producing, to the highest standards, a fire safety cable designed to protect building occupants and meet the new requirements now in force.

Behind this product lies a strong industrial ambition, but also a conviction: manufacturing in Autun a cable that directly contributes to people’s safety is a real source of pride for the teams.

A fire safety cable: protecting people, even when a fire breaks out

A fire creates extreme conditions: heat, smoke, and the rapid deterioration of installations.
In this context, the cables used in a building play a decisive role. A fire safety cable is designed to limit risks and contribute to safety in the event of a fire, by supporting essential functions and fitting within an approach aligned with market requirements.

For Autun, producing this type of cable means meeting a very real field need: enabling installers and specifiers to rely on a solution that is dependable, robust, well-controlled, and industrialized with a high level of consistency.

Nexans Protect: our new range that goes beyond the expected CPR level (Cca-s2,d2,a2)

The new requirements for ERP & IGH projects mean that, at a minimum, cables must now be specified with a Euroclass rating of Cca-s2,d2,a2.

Within this framework, the Nexans Protect range goes further on critical real-life fire performance criteria, with references available in Cca-s1,d2,a1:

• Cca: limited contribution to fire, helping reduce fire development and flame spread along cable routes. Propagation is up to 10 times slower than with an R2V cable.

• s1 (vs s2): lower smoke emission and better control of smoke opacity; a direct lever to preserve visibility and facilitate occupant evacuation as well as intervention by firefighters / emergency services. Evacuation is 3 times faster thanks to guaranteed 10 m visibility.

• d2: compliant performance for flaming droplets / particles according to the classification.

• a1 (vs a2): significantly less corrosive smoke, helping limit damage to equipment (switchboards, automation systems, electronics) and reduce post-fire impact.

In other words: while a Cca-s2,d2,a2 classification meets the expected level, going further with a Cca-s1,d2,a1 classification provides an additional safety margin on two key fire parameters: smoke (visibility/evacuation) and corrosivity (damage and return to service).

A structuring investment that shapes the future of the site

To support this ambition, Nexans has made a major industrial investment at the Autun site. The objective is clear: to successfully make the shift toward fire protection cable (halogen-free) and establish Autun as a leading player in Europe.

This investment is not simply about increasing capacity. It shapes the future of the site because it strengthens what gives a plant its value: the ability to produce consistently, maintain a high level of quality, and respond quickly to market needs with strong industrial standards.

Halogen-free cables: a strategic shift for the cable industry

Halogen-free cables are emerging as a major market evolution: reduced smoke emissions, improved fire performance, and a response to safety and compliance expectations. For Nexans, this is a strategic direction. For Autun, it is an industrial milestone.
 

Successfully making this shift means:

• securing processes to guarantee stable quality over time,
• mastering critical production parameters,
• strengthening controls and traceability,
• industrializing a solution designed for real field constraints.

Behind this positioning lies a collective dynamic: industry, quality, technical, marketing — all aligned around the same objective. Because a fire safety cable is not just a product data sheet: it is a performance promise, upheld by a complete chain, from design to manufacturing and through to installation.

Local pride, tangible impact

Autun plays a key role in this trajectory. Every day, the site teams demonstrate a strong commitment: producing a cable that contributes to occupant safety, with the rigor and consistency required for a product of this nature.

This transformation also symbolizes something broader: giving the site the means to match its ambitions, embedding halogen-free cables within a sustainable industrial approach, and strengthening Autun’s role in Nexans’ pure-player electrification strategy.