Baltic Power Crunch: Estlink-2 Sabotage Fears Rise

Authorities in Estonia are investigating an interruption of the Estlink-2 power cable that delivers electricity from Finland, amid fears of sabotage. This follows recent disruptions of undersea data cables and the Nord Stream pipeline. Estonia's government held an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis.

Estonia's government convened an emergency meeting on Thursday to address an outage affecting the Estlink-2 power cable, a vital undersea link bringing electricity from Finland. The disruption, which occurred shortly after noon on Wednesday, has put authorities on high alert amid rising concerns over undersea infrastructure integrity.

This incident follows damage to two Baltic Sea data cables in November and the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022, which officials have attributed to sabotage. Estonia's Prime Minister, Kristen Michal, emphasized the collaborative effort involving Finnish and Estonian teams working around the clock to identify the fault in the Estlink-2 connection.

Public broadcaster ERR reported that the cable had undergone recent repairs due to a short circuit, partially attributed to its complex layout. Estonian operator Elering reassured that there was sufficient reserve capacity to supply electricity on Estonia's side. Meanwhile, authorities continue to maintain vigilant communication with Nordic-Baltic partners to ensure energy security.

(With inputs from agencies.)