Cable Repair

Prysmian completed subsea cable repair operations on the IFA2 interconnector by late February 2024, ending the unplanned outage that had begun in November 2023 following a suspected cable fault. The completion is recorded in Local Notice to Mariners 42/24 issued jointly by the King's Harbour Master Portsmouth and the Harbour Master ABP Southampton on 20 March 2024, which states that "repair operations carried out by Prysmian have concluded and project now enters guard phase to protect asset whilst licences are acquired for cable protection". The notice further confirms that guard duties commenced in the Eastern Solent on 26 February 2024 — approximately 1.5 nautical miles SSW of Gilkicker Point — under Seagard Ltd contracted by National Grid Ventures, with expected completion in 2025. The guard phase was put in place because the repaired section required additional protection while the permanent cable-protection licences were applied for and granted. Prysmian was the original cable supplier and installer for IFA2 (cable supply and installation contract awarded April 2017), making it the natural party to execute the repair on the +/-320 kV HVDC subsea cable system.