Malta–Sicily Second Interconnector (IC2)

The cable is finished; it just is not in the sea yet. In June 2026 Nexans completed manufacture and factory testing of 103 km of subsea cable for Malta’s second interconnector at its plant in Charleston, in the United States. The cable was made in sections of about 10 km, jointed into two long lengths, and a spare length was set aside and stored in Malta for future repairs. In the last week of June the marine route was cleared. The Malta Independent reported that the new laying vessel Nexans Electra would put it down later in 2026.

The reason for a second cable is a rule of grid planning called n-1: the system must meet demand even if its largest single piece of supply infrastructure fails. With one interconnector, Malta could not meet that test. The December 2019 anchor strike on the first Malta–Sicily cable, which caused island-wide power cuts, showed what that meant in practice.

IC2 follows the first link closely. It runs between the same substations, Magħtab on Malta and Ragusa on Sicily, at the same 220 kV, and carries 225 MW over a route of about 122 km. The European Investment Bank gives the total cost as €297 million. Its board approved a €100 million loan on 8 July 2025, split €49 million for Malta and €51 million for Italy, and the loan was signed on 23 April 2026. The Maltese press puts the investment at about €300 million, with €261 million from the European Regional Development Fund. An environmental and social impact assessment, covering underwater noise, seabed ecology and archaeology, was completed in March 2025.

What is not settled is the start of operation. The EIB had earlier aimed for the second quarter of 2026, which has passed with the cable still on land. No firm in-service date has been confirmed since.

Interconnect Malta, the state-owned company that runs the first cable, manages the project. The spare length stored on the island is the most direct lesson from 2019, when the first cable was mended by splicing in spare cable after an anchor strike.