Bridging UK and France with Electricity

A new France power interconnector awarded to Prysmian by IFA2 will allow up to 1,000 MW to be transmitted between the countries

Prysmian Group will provide the turn-key design, manufacture and installation of a submarine and land power cable link

MAY 2017

After having secured the first ever French submarine power cable links for offshore wind farms for connecting offshore wind electricity to the country’s mainland grid, Prysmian Group has secured a new major contract worth some €350 million for a France-UK connection. The project was awarded by IFA2 SAS, a joint venture between UK National Grid and RTE of France. Prysmian will provide the turn-key design, manufacture and installation of a submarine and land power cable link to connect Tourbe in France to Chilling in Hampshire.

The subsea route is just over 200 km and will land at the south coast of the UK at Solent Airport near Fareham where the UK converter station is to be located. The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnection will operate at ± 320 kV DC and will allow up to 1,000 MW of power to be transferred between the countries. The HVDC cable system comprises approximately 25 km route length in France, running from Tourbe converter station in Northern France to the landing point close to Caen.

Massimo Battaini, Senior Vice President Energy Projects at Prysmian, is “delighted” to have been selected by two of the Group most important customers, in a deal that “highlights our worldwide market and technological leadership in submarine cable transmission systems”.

Inaddition to the HVDC cable link, the contract includes a High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) link that will connect the converter station to a local substation in Chilling, UK, including 2 km land sections at each end with a 5 km subsea section in the between.

The subsea cables will be manufactured in the Prysmian production facility in Pikkala, Finland, whilst the land cables will be manufactured at in Gron, France. The installation of the land sections will also involve resources and facilities from Prysmian France and Prysmian UK, that are headquartered in the nearby area. The Prysmian cable laying vessels Cable Enterprise and Ulisse will work at the installation.

The IFA2 interconnector will enhance the security, affordability
and sustainability of energy supplies in France and Great Britain

Partnering to IFA2 project, Prysmian will thus provide its contribution to enhance the security, affordability and sustainability of energy supplies in France and Great Britain.

The 1,000 MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical interconnector, will indeed reduce the cost of electricity for homes and businesses in Great Britain, while increasing security of electricity supplies for both countries and providing opportunities for shared use of renewable energy.

The project partners, National Grid and Réseau de Transport d'Electricité (RTE), are planning to complete the construction of IFA2 and start operations in 2020.