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Enemalta begins repairs for Malta-Italy Interconnector

By: Tom Russell 08/11/2022 Enemalta

Cables General Interconnectors

Enemalta undertaking the final repairs of the Malta-Sicily Interconnector after it was damaged by a ship’s anchor earlier this year.

Weather permitting, works on the damaged section of this subsea cable, which supplies around 20% of Malta’s electricity requirements will be ready by the end of the month.

Back in March, part of this 98-kilometre connection was damaged by the anchor of the tanker Chem B at Qalet Marku Bay, close to the cable’s landing point in Malta. A few weeks ago, Enemalta detached the anchor and chain, which had remained stuck to the cable, and raised them from the seabed.

After divers inspected the damages, Enemalta and its contractor, Nexans, identified a 1.2-kilometre stretch of the Interconnector cable that needed to be replaced. This week, Nexans’ cable-laying vessel Aurora arrived at Marsaxlokk Bay to load the required cable from the Delimara Power Station, where Enemalta was storing it for such eventualities. The loading operation was supported by International Energy Service Centre Ltd, Enemalta’s subsidiary company entrusted with several maintenance operations at the same power station.

While the Aurora is replacing the damaged cable at Qalet Marku Bay, the Interconnector will be de-energised. Enemalta is dispatching its spare capacity plants at the Delimara Power Station to continue meeting the country’s electricity demand.

This is the second time in the last three years that Enemalta needed to repair the 200 MW Malta-Italy Interconnector following damages by a vessel’s anchor.

Interconnect Malta Ltd (ICM), a government company operating under Malta’s Ministry of Environment, Energy and Enterprise, is developing a new 118 km, 200 MW high-voltage alternating current connection between Maghtab in Malta and Ragusa in Sicily, parallel to the first HVAC interconnector, which was laid in 2015. Malta-Sicily 2 It is expected to be operational in 2025.

For more information on interconnector projects worldwide, click here. Alternatively, you can view projects across the globe using 4C Offshore's Interactive Map.

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Enemalta begins repairs for Malta-Italy Interconnector

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