BASSLINK chief executive Malcolm Eccles says the company would be interested in constructing and operating a second cable if it proved profitable.
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Mr Eccles said on Thursday repairs to the broken cable were progressing well.
He said Basslink had daily contact with Singapore-based parent company Keppel.
“We’re obviously keeping an eye on costs but we’re more interested in getting the repair done,” he said.
Keppel has issued a notice to shareholders that it expects the repairs to be covered by insurance.
“That’s our current expectation, we’re treating this as an insurable event.”
When it comes to a second cable, Mr Eccles said the biggest hurdle would be the economic case.
“I believe this technology is the way forward for transmission systems,” he said.
“If a second Basslink was proven to be economical – I think that’s the largest hurdle that’s got to be jumped over – it’s certainly something we’d be interested in.
“We have the expertise within the business.”
He said the company would be interested in both the construction stage and operation of a second cable.
“Up until this fault, Basslink was the best performing cable in the world,” Mr Eccles said.
“We’ve got a cable fault that’s happened after ten years and the rest of the performance seems to be forgotten.”
He said looking at cable systems around the world – whether they be on the land or in the sea – failure frequency was about one every 15-20 years.
“For a cable like Basslink you’d expect probably two, or if you’re unlucky three or four."