Estlink 2 will not be repaired until August due to complexity of task
The Estlink 2 undersea electricity cable linking Estonian and Finland will be out of action until August, grid distributor Elering told ERR Tuesday. The cable has been offline since a fault developed in late January.
Elering spokesperson Liis Eiser said: "What makes the cable unique is that the direct current cable contains both a main current (or "+") and the return current (or "-") wires in the one cable. There are few cables to be found worldwide with a similar voltage and construction."
EstLink 2, the cable in question, has been offline since late January and given its complex and unique construction, repair works require specific expertise and techniques, which take into account its technical peculiarities.
That the outage meant EstLink 2 being offline until August had raised questions; Elering had previously said that the surrounding conditions and locateion of the fault, in addition to its one-of-a-kind nature, are the main reasons for this.
The work will be conducted by the cable's manufacturers, as they are adjudged to have the requisite expertise and skill.
"The cable's manufacturer knows the EstLink 2 cable in detail, so Elering cannot choose another partner," Eiser said.
The Estlink 2 cable outage began between midnight and 1 a.m. on January 26 this year, and its approximate location, closer to the Estonian side of the Gulf of Finland, was determined a few days later.
The precise location was identified at the end of February.
Elering's management board member Reigo Kebja told ERR that the fault location is within five to ten meters landward of the rift between seabed proper and the land shelf.
Kebja said: "The undersea cable at that spot lies at about seven to eight meters under the sea bed. What makes the nature of this fault extremely complicated is the fact that it lies on the boundary between the sea and the land," he said.
A 500-meter section of the undersea cable needs to be replaced, as previously stated by Elering, in the course of eliminating the fault.
Repair works have not yet commenced, as work on finding the technical solution needed in installing the new cable is still ongoing, Eiser said, though the overall deadline for the completion of the works remains August, she added.
Costs will be determined after planning and design works are finished, Eiser added.
The 650MW EstLink 2 officially started operation a decade ago.
EstLink 1, with a capacity of 350MW, remains operational and connecting the Estonian and Finnish electricity systems.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Andrew Whyte
