Fingrid, Elering start laying EstLink 2 submarine cable
15.10.2012, 12:22The laying of the submarine cable for the EstLink 2 electricity transmission connection between Finland and Estonia started today with marine cable pull-in operations in Aseri, Estonia.
The new high voltage direct current connection is expected to come into operation in early 2014.
The connection between Finland and Estonia will have a transmission capacity of 650 megawatts, which increases the total transmission capacity between the countries to 1,000 megawatts. The total length of the link is approx. 170 km, some 14 km of which is overhead line in Finland, about 145 km submarine cable laid on the bottom of the Gulf of Finland, and about 12 km underground cable in Estonia.
The total budget of the project is approx. 320 million euros, which will be divided between Fingrid and Elering, the transmission system operators in the two countries, in equal proportions. EstLink 2 will receive 100 million euros in investment subsidy from the EU as part of the EU’s extensive economy recovery package.
There will be converter stations at both ends of the link, used for converting direct current to alternating current and vice versa. The in-terconnection will be connected to the Finnish transmission grid at the Anttila substation. In Estonia, the cable will be connected to the Estonian grid at the Püssi substation in North-eastern Estonia.
The first campaign from the Es-tonian coast started today, and the cable laying work in Finland outside Porvoo is scheduled to commence preliminarily in November or December 2012. The laying schedule is dependent on the weather conditions. The final jointing, testing and commissioning of the submarine cable will be done in 2013.