Elering launched public procurements for the construction of submarine cables of Suur Väin Strait and Väike Väin Strait

Elering launched public procurements for the construction of Rõuste-Tusti power cable between Muhu Island and mainland and also for installing a 110 kV cable line crossing Väike Väin Strait.

In Suur Väin Strait, two old 35 kV cables between Rõuste-Tusti will be replaced by one new 110 kV submarine cable. The total length of the cable of Suur Väin Strait is estimated to be almost 11 km, of which almost 10 km is a submarine cable. The total length of the cable line of Väike Väin Strait is almost 7 km, of which 5 km is a submarine cable.

Installation of a submarine cable allows dismantling one overhead line on the dam of Väike Väin Strait. Currently there are two lines on the same poles. One overhead line will remain operating even after the submarine cable has been completed. It is planned to improve the marking of the latter, so that it is better visible and safer for birds.

The minimum output of the cables of both straits must be 500 A. The submarine cables will be installed in the sea in one piece without a joint-sleeve and with a new cable also a fibre-optic communication cable is installed.

To a depth of six metres of the sea water, the cable will be installed in a trench with a depth of 1.5 metres and in deeper areas in a trench with a depth of one metre. The estimated width of the trench is up to three metres. To a depth of six metres the cable trench is backfilled, in the areas deeper than six metres, the cable will remain loose in the trench and it fills with the sediments over time.

If all goes according to plan, the cable installation works will begin in spring 2020 and the installation work should be completed by the fall of the same year.