Tender seeks survey services for France-UK electricity links

French transmission system operator (TSO) Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) has issued a tender seeking a provider of a survey campaign for two interconnector projects.

As part of the awarded framework contract, the selected party will be in charge of carrying out maintenance survey work along the length of the IFA2000 and IFA2 interconnections between France and the UK.

The goal is to examine changes in the seabed, rock protection and identify any exposed cable.

This survey is divided into five specifications, including a UK nearshore survey, DC offshore cable survey and French nearshore survey for the IFA2000 link, as well as a DC cable survey and UK AC river survey for the IFA2 link.

The campaign includes a multi-beam echo-sounder (MBES) survey, side-scan sonar (SSS) survey, gradiometer survey, geophysical survey reporting and charting, as well as data delivery including GIS formats.

Interested parties are welcome to submit applications for the tender by 13:00 on 20 February. The contract will have a duration of one year.

Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) is a joint venture between RTE and the UK’s National Grid.

IFA1 has been in operation since 1986, providing a subsea electricity link between Great Britain and France. 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.