The installation of the second marine cable in the Väike Strait is nearing completion
On behalf of Elering, Connecto has installed the second 110 kilovolt marine cable at the bottom of the Väike Strait. This almost five kilometre long cable connects the electricity system between the Muhu and Saaremaa islands, increasing the supply security of the islands and opening the way for new renewable energy projects. The cable was installed in the sea as one long section. A fibre optic communication cable was also installed along with the power cable to provide additional communication capacity.
The marine cable, which has a diameter of 210 mm and weighs of 75 kg per metre, was produced at Prysmian's plant in Pikkala, Finland. In the past two years, Prysmian has made over 200 million worth of investments in the Pikkala plant with the aim of increasing the production capacity of 525 kV HVDC marine cables, supporting the development of energy networks and energy transmission needs, reducing the environmental impact of the plant and creating new jobs. The investments made in Finland are part of the larger global strategy with which Prysmian develops four powerful production centres: Pikkala, Arco Felice in Italy, Nordenham in Germany and Massachusetts in USA to meet the growing demand for power transmission cables worldwide.
The importance of the project goes beyond improving the power supply of the islands. In the course of the project, the depreciated overhead line was also removed from the Väike Strait dam to make it safer for the birds there. With the support of the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility, the total cost of the project was 7.3 million euros.
See the video of the project in LinkedIn.