Repairs on EstLink 2 will begin in May

Elering has been making preparations throughout spring in order to restore the Estonian-Finnish EstLink 2 electricity interconnection, which has resulted in finalising the prerequisites for starting repair work on the Estonian coast.

Repairs on EstLink 2 are due to begin in earnest in the second half of May on the Estonian coast, near Aseri. The goal continues to be restoring the operation of EstLink 2 by the end of August this year.

“We have been engaged in redesigning the problematic section of the cable, analysing the geological conditions, acquiring the technical equipment required for the work, and preparing and acquiring the required permits. Various partners from Estonia and abroad have been involved in order to plan this large-scale and technically complex repair project,” said Reigo Kebja, Member of the Management Board and Head of Asset Management of Elering.

“Our goal has been to prepare a cut in the next section in the submarine cable at the first opportunity in order to determine the length of the cable section to be replaced and verify the good working order of the remainder of the cable. For this purpose, we will have to perform extensive preparatory work on the coast and in shallow water, such as building temporary roads, building a temporary dam and installing a crane, opening a pit, and constructing a testing and repair platform. This includes the objective of constructing a 50-metre-long dry pool for the purpose of repair work on the coastal waters. The logistics for the replacement cable will be a significant challenge in the shallow water area.

The main goal is to restore the electricity interconnection as fast as possible,” explained Kebja.

EstLink 2 was switched off due to a failure at the end of January. The exact section causing the failure was pinpointed by the end of February thanks to the application of various technical methods.

Until the failure in January, the operational reliability of EstLink 2 has been exemplary. In 2022, EstLink 2 was operational for 99.33% of all the hours in the year. In the previous year, this indicator was 96.32% of all the hours in the year due to an increase in the proportion of planned interruptions.

EstLink 2, with a capacity of 650 megawatts, has been available for the market for 10 years.