Australian Basslink has located and removed the fault location at the interconnector between George Town in Tasmania and Loy Yang in Victoria.
The fault point was identified at 90.467km from the Tasmanian coastline. However, the cause of the error is yet to be determined, the company said.
“ The analysis process, which saw us cut the cable 1150m from the fault, has been encouraging, ” said Basslink CEO Malcolm Eccles .
“The team has worked hard over the last few days clearing around 63 tons of cable to ensure it does not interfere with the later phases of repair operations. We have also conducted extensive tests to confirm the removal of the fault and that the cable is ready for jointing, with both ends of the cable now capped and on the seabed.”
In addition, the repair work will include the connection of the third joint, as a replacement cable for the section that was damaged by the water ingress into the cable.
The cable repair vessel, Ile de Ré, will spend the next 10 days in Geelong mobilizing for the next phase, which involves joining the two new pieces of cable to the interconnector to replace the removed section.
Earlier reports indicated that the cable could be back in operation in May, but according to the latest reports, the cable could return to service by mid-June.