Bass Strait cable repairs to begin

Repairs to a Bass Strait energy cable linking Tasmania with mainland Australia will begin soon after fault-detection work was finally able to proceed thanks to a break in bad weather.

Crews reached the cable on Friday night after working around the clock for more than a month to locate the fault, which is thought to be some 98km from the Tasmanian coast.

A problem with the cable caused it to be shut down and, together with low water levels affecting hydro-electric generation, sparked fears of an energy crisis across the island state.

It is expected to be operating again by the end of May.

As well as power, the Basslink interconnector is used by some ISPs, like iiNet who have issued a statement warning customers of an "impending degradation to services" as the repairs are conducted.

"We have implemented an alternate solution for the duration of these repairs, however it is important to note this will provide limited capacity for iiNet customers," iiNet said on its Facebook page.

"Impacted services will include all broadband services."