Survey on schedule for France-UK interconnector until mid-September

Marine survey operations are about to begin along a section of an interconnector between France and the UK.

UK’s A-2-Sea Solutions will conduct marine survey operations along a section of the IFA2 cable route, commencing on 27 July with an estimated completion on 13 September.

For the activities, the company will be operating the 40.2-meter-long Mintaka and the 19.8-meter-long Morven on a 24-hr basis.

The vessels will be working along a 25-meter survey corridor for the first duration of the operation, which will involve the use of hull-mounted equipment and towed equipment below the water surface.

IFA2 is a 240-kilometer long subsea power cable that stretches along the sea floor between Fareham, Hampshire in the UK, and near Caen, Normandy in France.

The first link between France and the UK called IFA1 has been in operation since 1986. IFA2, the second link between the two countries, was commissioned at the beginning of 2021 and is capable of exporting or importing 1 GW of electricity.

The projects were developed by Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA), a joint venture between French transmission system operator (TSO) Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) and the UK’s National Grid.