The incident with the SwePol Link power cable was first recorded on February 11. 2. Market data shows that the current transmitted through this cable line decreased to 0 right before 8 pm on the same day.
The Polish power grid operator Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE) said that there are currently no signs that the incident was caused by intentional sabotage.
The Polish power system is still operating stably and fully meets safety criteria" - PSE emphasized. Repair work is underway and according to the schedule, the cable line will be restored to operation at midnight on February 13.
The SwePol Link cable line is about 250km long, put into operation in 2000. About 240km of the length of this power cable line is located at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
This is a high-voltage single-direction power transmission cable (HVDC), capable of transmitting a maximum of 600MW of electricity between Poland and Sweden.
The two cableheads are located near the city of Słupsk in northern Poland and the Swedish Starno Peninsula.
Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out nearly 4 years ago, the Baltic Sea region has become a hotspot for activities called "hybrid warfare", in which many cases target undersea infrastructure.
At the end of 2024, an important power cable and many telecommunications cables connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged when a Russian oil tanker pulled an anchor under the seabed.
Prosecutors argued that this action was intentional, although the crew denied it and said the incident stemmed from a technical error. A few weeks later, NATO deployed a new monitoring and deterrence mission called Baltic Sentry to protect key infrastructure in the region.
Previously, the Nord Stream gas pipeline connecting Germany and Russia was destroyed in a series of explosions. Late last year, a Ukrainian suspect named Serhii K. was extradited from Italy to Germany and tried in Germany related to the incident.
However, in October last year, a Polish court rejected Germany's request to extradite another Nord Stream suspect who is also a Ukrainian citizen. This suspect has been released by Poland.
