The start-up of Baltic-Finnish electricity cable Estlink may de delayed due to problems recently found in tests in a converter station in Finland, it has emerged.
<p>Estlink is a submarine cable project backed by various power companies that is expected to connect the electrical power systems of Estonia and Finland from the end of 2006. The cable will run from the Finish transmission network in Espoo, Finland to the Estonian transmission network at Harku. <br /><br />Starting from the middle of October, submarine cable constructor ABB has been carrying out tests in converter stations in Espoo and Harku in order to prepare the start-up of the cable for the end of November. <br /><br />According to the current information some problems have occurred during the tests in the converter station in Espoo, which might delay the start-up of the cable, commented Nordic Energy Link manager Indrek Aarn. ABB is investigating the problem and is looking for a solution. <br /><br />Tests in Espoo substations have been temporarily discontinued.<br /><br />There have been no significant obstacles during the tests carried out in Estonia, Nordic Energy Link said. Some voltage dips could have been possible when the converter station was energized and might still occur until the end of the testing period. In the meantime, the tests in Harku substation are in progress.</p>