Works have been completed on the €182 million Malta-Sicily interconnector and testing of the 120km underwater cable is expected to start soon.

Enemalta is planning to commission the 200MW cable, stretching from Qalet Marku in Magħtab to Ragusa in Sicily, by the first half of the year. The final piece of the jigsaw fell into place last week when the Magħtab Terminal Station was hooked up to the local grid by means of a 6.5km tunnel excavated  to Kappara. 

The project was originally planned to be completed this time last year but works in Sicily were delayed as the planning and environmental permits from the Italian planning authorities had not all been issued. 

Measuring 26 centimetres in diameter, the interconnector consists of three single-core 630-square-millimetre copper cables, bound up tightly together with steel wire.

The cable is covered with an additional insulation layer made of lead to prevent any water seeping in. It also houses space for two fibre-optic cables which may be used for data transmission. See video above recorded at the end of December. 

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