Estonia-Finland power cable Estlink 2 to resume operation from Wednesday

TALLINN - The repairs of the Estonia-Finland undersea electricity cable Estlink 2 have been successful, and according to the recently updated market notice, the work will be completed on  Tuesday, with the interconnection scheduled to resume operation on Wednesday.

"The cable repair work is finished, and preparations for energizing the cable are complete. Testing of the cable began yesterday and will continue today, which is a prerequisite for restarting the connection. If the tests show no setbacks, the connection will be available for market use starting tomorrow," Reigo Haug, head of the Estlink unit, said.

To fix the fault, approximately 300 meters of cable needed to be replaced with a reserve cable and connected to the existing cable line. The construction of one of the connection joints was completed from a platform built in the coastal sea in early August, and the other connection joint linking sea and land cables is now also complete.

Special equipment and specially trained personnel from the cable manufacturer were required for the cable repairs. Norwegian and Estonian subcontractors played a key role in the successful completion of the works. Extensive construction work was also carried out to fix the cable.

Although the repair work has been completed to the extent that the cable can be put back into operation, activities at the repair site will continue over the next few months. It is crucial to finish all necessary shore reinforcement and surface work before winter, and to remove temporary structures, including roads, yards, cranes, and drained sea areas.

Estlink 2 was shut down due to a fault at the end of January. The exact location of the fault was determined at the end of February. The 650-megawatt electricity interconnection began operations in 2014 and was one of the most reliable high-voltage direct current connections in the Baltic Sea region until this incident.