Cable laying vessel Cable Enterprise has arrived at Prysmian Group’s factory in Pikkala, Finland, to load the first batch of cables for the IFA2 (Interconnexion France-Angleterre) interconnector project.
Over a ten-day period, over 100 kilometres of ± 320 kV DC submarine cables will be loaded onto the vessel.
The IFA2 interconnector is a 1GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between the UK and France. The project is being developed by UK’s National Grid IFA2 Ltd and France’s RTE, and is expected to be commissioned in 2020.
The HVDC cable system comprises approximately 25km route length in France, running from Tourbe converter station in Northern France to the landing point close to Caen.
The subsea route is just over 200km across the English Channel and will land at the south coast of the UK at Solent Airport near Fareham where the UK converter station is to be located.
In addition to the HVDC cable link, a high voltage alternating current (HVAC) link will connect the converter station to a local substation in Chilling, UK, which includes 2km land sections at each end with a 5 km subsea section between them.
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Video: Prysmian Group/YouTube