i-DE, the distribution company of the Iberdrola group, has completed the repair of the submarine cable that supplies electricity to the island of Tabarca, which broke down at the beginning of last month as a result of the maritime storm, as announced by the company in a statement.
Over the last two weeks, the company has mobilised more than twenty operators, including a team of professional divers and technicians from the cable manufacturer, as well as i-DE staff and collaborating companies, who have required the use of two boats to proceed to the location and removal of the damaged section of cable.
The works have consisted of the replacement of approximately 50 metres of submarine cable, as well as different joints both in the connection area on land and on the seabed, and the protection of the cable arrival section to the coast to prevent future storms from causing further deterioration.
The distribution company of the Iberdrola group is already working on the implementation of complementary measures to cover possible future contingencies and will begin to remove the smaller generator sets that were also installed in April as a transitory measure to be able to cover the supply in Tabarca during Easter week.
Ana Lafuente, director of i-DE in the Valencian Community, wanted to thank the understanding shown by the customers affected by the lack of electricity supply caused by the storm and the collaboration provided by the different public bodies, and “so that we have been able to repair the wiring and be able to once again supply electricity to the island through its submarine line in a much shorter period of time than we could have expected at first.”
i-DE, which plans to invest 477 million euro in smart grids in the Valencian Community between 2022 and 2024, manages more than 68,000 kilometres of low and medium voltage lines and more than 3,400 km of high and very high voltage lines in the region. Likewise, it has 25,000 transformer centres in service and 177 primary and secondary substations.
In recent years, i-DE has undertaken an ambitious plan to digitise its electricity networks in the Valencian Community, where it has converted its more than 3.5 million metres and the infrastructure that supports them into smart ones, incorporating remote management capabilities, supervision and automation.
