The production of critical high-voltage (HV) components for the second electrical interconnector between Malta and Italy has commenced in Türkiye.
The IC2 interconnector will consist of a new ~122-kilometer-long 225 MW HVAC electrical cable interconnection between the Terna substation at Ragusa, Sicily, and the Enemalta terminal station in Maghtab, to be laid in parallel to the existing HVAC cable link .
According to Ismail D’Amato, CEO of InterConnect Malta, the manufacturing of two reactors and a transformer started at the BEST manufacturing plant and will take around three months to be completed.
The infrastructure will be installed in both Maghtab and Ragusa in order to control voltage and improve efficiency in energy transmission between Malta and Italy.
The €20.2 million contract is being delivered by the local contractor AG Installations, working in close collaboration with BEST as its supplier.
“The work being carried out by Interconnect Malta is progressing well so that soon enough our country will have a second interconnector,” Miriam Dalli , Malta’s Minister for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleanliness.
“This is part of our energy vision. Apart from investing and strengthening the supply and distribution system, we are continuing to invest more in renewable sources and battery energy storage systems. We are making sure that Malta has a more resilient and powerful and diverse energy mix. The vision, work, and investment are being recognised even internationally; in fact, recently the IMF explained how our country is making very strong progress when it comes to energy security.”
Nexans, which also delivered the first Malta-Italy interconnector in 2015, is manufacturing the 245 kV high-voltage subsea cable system for this second interconnector.
The overall interconnector cable link will be composed of a land cable in Sicily, approximately 21 kilometers long, a three-core submarine cable approximately 99 kilometers long, and a 2-kilometer land cable in Malta.