Conductive bridging of a tubing encapsulated conductor for powering equipment in wellbore operations

A tubing encapsulated conductor comprising:

• at least one interior wire positionable to transmit electric power from a power source associated with a wellbore to at least one piece of electrical equipment during a wellbore operation performed with respect to the wellbore, the at least one piece of electrical equipment positionable downhole in the wellbore;
• a metal sheath positionable around the at least one interior wire;
• an encapsulation layer positionable on an outer side of the metal sheath;
• and
• a conductive bridging component positionable to pierce the encapsulation layer to contact the metal sheath and to facilitate an electrical coupling between the metal sheath and a production tubing string at a location along a length of the production tubing string, the production tubing string positionable downhole in the wellbore.

A method comprising:

• electrically coupling a tubing encapsulated conductor between a power source associated with a wellbore and at least one piece of electrical equipment used downhole within the wellbore during a wellbore operation performed with respect to the wellbore;
• installing a conductive bridging component at a location of the tubing encapsulated conductor, the conductive bridging component electrically coupling with a metal sheath of the tubing encapsulated conductor;
• and
• controlling a supply of power to the at least one piece of electrical equipment during the wellbore operation via the tubing encapsulated conductor, wherein current is transmitted from the power source to the at least one piece of electrical equipment via at least one interior wire of the tubing encapsulated conductor, and wherein the current returns to the power source via a production tubing string positioned downhole in the wellbore, wherein the production tubing string is electrically coupled to the metal sheath of the tubing encapsulated conductor via the conductive bridging component.