The Finnish operator “Fingrid” will have to limit the electricity export capacity to Estonia for the next few days, because the substation construction works will be carried out in the south of Finland. The cable will start operating at 100% capacity from Friday.
The Minister of Climate and Energy Kaspars Melnis (ZZS) emphasizes that it was essential that the cable between Finland and Estonia resumes operation before the start of the upcoming heating season, because the interconnection with Finland and Estonia is one of the essential elements of energy security for the Baltics.
In the long term, the interruption of the Estonian-Finnish interconnection has not affected the electricity market – in Latvia, the situation in the energy system has been stable and electricity supplies have not been disrupted. Looking at the average electricity prices, since the events of January 26 of this year, the prices on the stock exchange have been competitive among the Baltic countries, which ensures equally favorable conditions among the companies of all the Baltic countries. During eight months, the average price of electricity this year was nine cents per kilowatt hour.
According to public information, in order to prevent damage to the coastline of the Estonian submarine cable, it was necessary to replace a section of the cable about 300 meters long with a spare cable and connect it to the existing cable line. The construction of the marine cable connection was completed from the offshore platform, which was carried out by specialists in early August.
In order to repair cable insulations, it was necessary to attract special equipment and personnel with special training and experience of the cable manufacturer. Subcontractors from Norway and Estonia played a key role in the successful completion of the repair work. Extensive construction work was carried out to repair the cable.
On Monday, September 2, tests began and continued until September 3 to make sure that the cable connection is working. Although repairs have been completed to the point where the cable can be put back into service, heavy activity will continue at the repair site in the coming months. By winter, it is important to complete all necessary backfilling, shore protection and soil works, as well as remove temporary structures, including roads, platforms, cranes and the drained sea area.
The cable failure reduced electricity transmission between the two countries (Finland and Estonia) by approximately 650 megawatts, but did not affect the functionality of the Finnish electricity system on a larger scale. “EstLink 2” was disconnected due to cable damage at the end of January 2024. The exact location of the damage was determined at the end of February this year.
2024-09-04 20:18:28