Repairs of Estlink 2 undersea power cable to be finished September 12
According to Elering, the repair work on the Estlink 2 electricity connection between Estonia and Finland is scheduled to be completed by September 12, following a recently updated timeline. The connection will be available to the market from the next day, September 13. This development is expected to end the significant price disparity that has persisted to the detriment of the Baltic price area since the cable was damaged.
"Just this weekend, one of the two joints needed to connect the replacement cable section to the existing Estlink 2 cables in the sea and on land was completed. The completion of the first critically important joint provides confidence that we will finish constructing the second similar connection within the next month. After that, we will conduct the necessary tests and general construction work required to restart Estlink 2," explained Reigo Kebja, member of the management board of Elering, the company responsible for managing the cable.
This week, the process of lowering the cable into the trench will begin, which means the cable will be placed in its permanent location. Afterward, the repair platform built at sea will be dismantled, and the drained marine area will be restored.
To ensure the safe completion of the repair work on the drained marine area, a repair platform of approximately 400 square meters was erected. A tower crane had to be set up to deliver construction materials and equipment to the worksite. A breakwater was also built to protect it.
"Over 300 meters of new cable was floated to the repair platform built in the coastal sea in cooperation between a cable-laying vessel and boats. The cable was then installed into a pipe on the platform. From the other side of the pipe, on land, a winch was used to pull a wire through the pipe, which then pulled the cable ashore. To ensure the cable reached its destination without damage, the team had to support it throughout the entire pulling process and monitor various technical parameters," Kebja described the critical activities that preceded the production of the joints.
According to previous information, Estlink 2 was expected to be repaired by the end of August.
Estlink 2, which has a capacity of 650 megawatts and began operating in 2014, unexpectedly broke down in January. The exact location of the fault was determined at the end of February. The Estonia-Finland electricity connection, which cost €320 million to build, was supposed to operate for over 50 years without major issues.
The outage of Estlink 2 has increased electricity prices in Estonia and the Baltic price area by 10 percent, according to Elering.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
