When EstLink 2 failed on 25 December 2024, Finland and Estonia lost 650 MW of transfer capacity between their systems for 177 days. The cable was not replaced: about one kilometre was renewed with spare cable using two repair joints, and the link returned to commercial use on 20 June 2025. The episode shows that the resilience of Europe’s power interconnectors depends less on the ability to manufacture cable than on a narrower and less visible capability: compatible spares kept ready, joints qualified for the specific asset, jointers trained on them, a vessel that can be mobilised and a test regime the operator will accept. Transmission system operators have begun to buy that capability separately. Energinet’s framework for repairs on COBRAcable, a 700 MW link between Denmark and the Netherlands, carries a maximum value of EUR 14 million but commits the buyer to no orders; TenneT has contracted jointers for a manufacturer-independent repair joint; NKT and Prysmian sell repair readiness under multi-year service agreements. What the public record does not show is how much of this capacity is reserved rather than merely offered, and whether it would hold if several strategic cables failed at the same time.