The manufacturing of key equipment for the second electrical interconnector between Malta and Italy has been completed in Türkiye, with the equipment now to be shipped to Malta and Sicily.
This includes an autotransformer that will reduce the voltage from the interconnection’s 220 kV to 132 kV, in line with the operation of Malta’s grid, and shunt reactors that help control voltage by absorbing the reactive energy generated.
The transformer and two reactors are in the process of dismantling and packaging and are expected to depart from the factory around mid-June. They will be transferred to the terminal in Türkiye to be loaded onto a vessel and travel to the port of Pozzallo in Sicily and the Grand Harbour in Malta, respectively.
The installation process of the 220 kV reactor in Ragusa, the 220 kV/132 kV transformer and the 220 kV Reactor in Malta is planned to be completed by the end of summer.
“The completion of manufacturing of an autotransformer and two variable shunt reactors all operating at 220kV, and their successful testing at the factory in Turkey is another step forward for the IC2 project. ICM looks forward to having them delivered, installed and commissioned at Maghtab and Ragusa terminal stations ahead of their energization in due course,” Joseph Vassallo , Divisional Manager at ICM, said.
The €20.2 million contract related to the transformer and reactors is being delivered by local contractor AG Installations, working in close collaboration with BEST which is responsible for the design, manufacturing, and testing of the respective transformer and reactors’ components, as well as SIMI Trasporti, responsible for the transportation of the equipment from BEST’s factory to Ragusa and Maghtab, and positioning them in their final locations.
The IC2 interconnector will consist of a new ~122-kilometer-long 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 .
Nexans, which also delivered the first Malta-Italy interconnector in 2015, is manufacturing the 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.