Repairs to the broken Basslink cable have been completed, the company says.
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In a statement released on Wednesday morning, chief executive Malcolm Eccles said it was a relief the weather conditions had allowed the final stretch of joint work to be completed.
Mr Eccles said the cable bight had also been laid and the entire length of the single piece of cable was currently on the seabed.
“The Basslink team will shortly commence a range of land-based tests of both the electricity interconnector as well as the fibre optic telecommunications cable, and all associated equipment on either side of Bass Strait,” he said.
“The cable repair vessel is currently in Bell Bay changing over the crew in anticipation of reburying the cable.
“These tests and reburial of the cable will be conducted over the next week, with a view to return the electricity interconnector and the telecommunications cable to service before the end of June, subject to any delays due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Mr Eccles said there had been more than 100 people working hard at sea and on land to fix the fault.
“It has been an extremely challenging six months, and we are grateful to have had such a committed team working with us.”
“Subject to some final testing and satisfactory weather conditions, we will rebury the cable in the next few days, and re-commission our converter stations at George Town and Loy Yang with a view to return both the electricity interconnector and the telecommunications cable to service as soon as possible,” he said.
