Concern over cable delays
Province will not take ownership of new power cables until project is complete
Months of delays to P.E.I.’s $142-million underwater cable project have caused concern and “stress” and have led the province to hold off on taking ownership of the new power cables.
Earlier this week, representatives from the P.E.I. Energy Corporation and Maritime Electric provided an update on the cable project that will see two 180-megawatt undersea power cables between P.E.I. and New Brunswick.
The project was supposed to be completed by the end of January, but problems were encountered burying the cables under the seabed.
The trench remotely operated vehicle (TROV) that was being used was not able to adequately dig trenches for the cables, said Kim Griffin, spokeswoman for Maritime Electric, which is the project manger. “We’re disappointed in the equipment that our cable supplier and installer used, it just seemed to have a number of breakdowns,” Griffin said.
“It certainly wasn’t nearly as efficient as we were told it was going to be.”
These breakdowns, in addition to some weather delays, meant a further 23 to 30 days were needed to finish laying the cables. But winter ice cover put a halt to the work.
About 20 kilometres of cable remain unburied on the bottom of the Northumberland Strait as project crews await the spring thaw to resume work.
The company that won the bid to manufacture and install the cables is a South Korean company called LS Cable.
Griffin says the province and Maritime Electric have obtained legal opinions on their contract with LS Cable and are confident the company will have to shoulder any costs associated with the delays.
Griffin says LS Cable has so far not disputed its responsibilities under the contract, but said no price tag for the cost overruns has yet been determined.
Maritime Electric will now have to obtain new or amended permits for the remaining installation from both the P.E.I. and New Brunswick regulators, as well as federal regulators, as a result of the delays.
“In a lot of ways it’s really challenging for us because you don’t just get your permits extended, and this is a huge project,” Griffin said.
The utility also had to come up with contingency plans for peak energy load requirements during the winter months, after it expected to have the two new cables in place.
“We were concerned about load, we were constantly making sure that our on-Island generation was ready to go, if needed,” she said.
“There has certainly been a fair bit of concern, and I would even say stress because, for us, we were all planning to have this done and in place.”
LS Cable has recently submitted a proposal detailing how it plans to complete the project, which is currently under review by the province and Maritime Electric.
In the meantime, the province will not take over ownership of the cables nor will Maritime Electric begin to use them until the project is complete and testing has been done to ensure the winter months of exposure did not damage the cables.
“We want to make sure that our contractor completes the job and covers them and protects them. And then when that’s done, we’ll take possession of it,” Griffin said. “We’re working very closely to make sure that the methods being proposed by our contractor are going to work this time and the machinery is going to work.”