Name of the Project
IFA2 project.

Location
The link will run from Chilling, in Hampshire, on the southern coast of England, to Tourbe, in northern France, covering 240 km across the English Channel.

Client
National Grid and Réseau de Transport d’Electricité.

Project Description
The project will further integrate the UK and French electricity markets; it will include the construction of a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical interconnector, with a 1 000 MW capacity, between the British and French transmission systems. The project includes two HVDC submarine cables running 204 km between the UK and France, which will be buried in the seabed.

In the UK:

• HVDC cables will be routed to the east of the Isle of Wight and come ashore at Monks Hill Beach, at the southern end of Daedalus airfield;
• the onshore HVDC cables will be buried underground and run from the landing point at Daedalus to a converter station to the north-east of the Daedalus airfield;
• a converter station is proposed to the north-east of the Daedalus airfield to convert electricity from direct current to alternating current and vice versa;
• high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) underground cables will be routed from the converter station back to the cable landfall at Monks Hill Beach, where the cables will be buried in the seabed and routed 4 km offshore to a cable landfall at Brownwich, near Warsash; and
• HVAC land cables will be buried underground and routed for an estimated 2 km to the point of connection to the grid at the Chilling 400 kV substation, near Warsash, Hampshire.

In France:

• subsea HVDC cables will come onshore to the east of Merville-Franceville-Plage;
• HVDC land cables will be buried and run underground for about 24 km to the converter station; 
• a converter station is proposed to be located near La Hogue, east of Caen, which will convert electricity from direct current to alternating current, and vice versa; and
• the HVAC underground cable will be routed from the converter station to the adjacent Tourbe 400 kV substation.

Jobs to Be Created
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

Latest Developments
UK grid operator National Grid and Réseau de Transport d’Electricité have awarded ABB an order worth €270-million to provide key HVDC technology that will help interconnect the electricity networks of France and the UK.

ABB will provide the two HVDC converter stations, to be located in France and England, which will be linked with a subsea cable. Each station converts ac into dc, and then back again before distribution. 

Key Contracts and Suppliers
ABB (HVDC technology).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
IFA2, email info@ifa2interconnector.com.