Energy / Replacing faulty Papa Stour electricity cable under consideration
A DECISION on the “long term resolution” to a fault with the electricity cable to Papa Stour is expected to be made by the end of March.
The options being considered are either repairing the cable or replacing it entirely.
Shetland News reported last month that generators have been brought to the island to ensure stable supply for 20 customers following a fault on the cable at the end of January.
The cable links Papa Stour to the Shetland mainland.
A spokesperson for SSEN Distribution acknowledged that accessing the faulty part of the cable is a “complex task”.
“Following the delivery of two larger generators earlier this month, we’ve transferred supplies from the individual generators over to one of these uprated appliances, with the second unit being deployed as a standby,” they said in an update this week.
“At the same time as our Lerwick-based teams have been working on Papa Stour, our specialist subsea team has been assessing the options available to them to carry out a long-term resolution to the fault.
“Accessing the actual faulty section of cable is a complex task, requiring the use of specialist machinery, however we expect to be in a position to make our decision by the end of March.
“Thereafter, the relevant applications for marine licences to carry out the work will be submitted to Marine Scotland.”
Not all of Shetland’s outlying inhabited islands are linked to the local grid through subsea cable, with Fair Isle and Foula having their own self-contained networks which include wind power.
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