Prysmian to develop IFA2, the new France-UK electricity interconnector

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has secured a contract worth around €350million with IFA2 SAS, a joint venture between National Grid IFA2 Ltd – part of National GridUK – and RTE of France.The contract is for the turn-key design, manufacture and installation of a submarine and land power cable link to connect Tourbe in France to Chilling in Hampshire, UK.

“This is a prestigious project for Prysmian, and we are delighted to have been selected by two of our most important customers, National Grid and RTE, highlighting our worldwide market and technological leadership in submarine cable transmission systems”, said Massimo Battaini, SVP Energy Projects.

The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnection will operate at ± 320 kV DC and will allow up to 1000 MW of power to be transferred between the countries.The HVDC cable systemcomprises approximately 25 km route length in France,running from Tourbeconverter station in Northern France to the landing point close to Caen. The subsea route is just over 200 km and will land atthe south coast of the UKat Solent Airport near Farehamwhere the UK converter station is to be located. In addition 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. This includes2 km land sections at each end with a 5 km subsea section between them.

The subsea cables will be manufactured in the Prysmian production facility in Pikkala, Finland,whilst the land cables will be manufactured at the Prysmian factory inGron, France. The installation of the land sections will also involve resources and facilities from Prysmian France and Prysmian UK, whose headquarters are situated in the local area. The Prysmian cable laying vessels Cable Enterprise and Ulissewill be utilized in the installation of the cables.

The system commissioning is scheduled for 2020.