The HVDC Cross-Channel (French: Interconnexion France Angleterre IFA 2000) is the 73 km long high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector that operates since 1986 under the English Channel between the continental European grid at Bonningues-ls-Calais and the British electricity grid at Sellindge. The planned outage of 1000MW of capacity at the IFA interconnector has been extended until 23 October. We have extended the outage on the other 1000MW, which was offline due to a planned outage, until 25 September. IFA1 is a 2,000 MW interconnector that links Great Britain and France, and while it has recently been at half capacity, it was set to return to full capacity this weekend, before tragedy struck. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) is a joint venture between the French Transmission Operator RTE and National Grid, operating the subsea electricity link between Great Britain and France, commissioned in 1986. National Grid confirmed it will bring 500MW back to service from . Critics say it's not enough. Data from energy market analyst EnAppSys shows that in the year to date, overall average power prices have been more than double the average price in 2019-2020 and in the last two weeks daily average prices have been eight times the average in 2019. Thankfully no one was injured and the emergency services got the fire under . A key substation at Kent was left damaged by a fire. We will provide a further update in due course, the spokesperson said. The equipment occasionally faults, causing capacity to drop: in a bad year, this might happen several times. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. The HVDC Cross-Channel (French: Interconnexion France Angleterre IFA 2000) is the 73 km long high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector that operates since 1986 under the English Channel between the continental European grid at Bonningues-ls-Calais and the British electricity grid at Sellindge.The cable is also known as IFA, and should not be confused with the new IFA-2, another . This is in addition to the 1000MW that is unavailable until Friday 17 September due to a planned outage. In common with the 1961 scheme, there is no provision to permit neutral current to flow through the sea. In 2006, 97.5% of the energy transfers were made from France to UK, supplying the equivalent of 3million English homes. Thats because Britain is currently facing an energy crunch with limited supplies, low margins and soaring power prices. National Grid expects that the French IFA interconnector will restart full operations by December next year. Please visit the BMRS website for the latest market updates via theREMIT report. Following the incident, it was forced to notify the wholesale electricity market that 1000MW would be unavailable until 27 March 2022 as a result. The impact is expected to plunge hundreds of thousands of homes into fuel poverty for the first time and has already forced a slowdown at factories to manage eye-watering energy costs. We are completely focused on getting IFA safely returned to service as soon as possible and we are in discussions with the UK ESO and our European partners to ensure we optimise upcoming planned pre-winter outages of our other interconnectors to support UK security of supply. The system was built with solid-state semiconductor thyristor valves from the outset. Get the latest from Electrical Review direct to your inbox Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, September 14, day-ahead pricing reached a record high, New Welsh Government Green Skills Action Plan highlights ECA, Local authorities in the South East failing to consult on EV strategy, Megger confirms sponsorship of Powered On Live event, New European research project hopes to give new life to old EV batteries. Read More; IFA2 Go-Live. Please visit the BMRS website for the latest market updates via theREMIT report. Dear Customers, We wish to update you on the major incident that occurred at IFA yesterday. Wholesale electricity prices have soared after a fire at an interconnector linking the French and British power networks, the National Grid has reported. Gas and electricity prices surged yesterday, with month-ahead gas prices hitting all-time highs, after National Grid confirmed that the blaze at a site in Kent had caused the closure of the IFA . A fire at a critical nodal point in the electrical grid has shut down a major cable transporting electricity from France, under the English Channel and to the UK. Please visit the BMRS website for the latest market updates via the REMIT report. Cables are laid in pairs in four trenches so that the magnetic fields generated by the two conductors are largely cancelled. We will bring 500MW back to service from October 2022 through to May 2023. [11] Repairs were completed by the end of February 2017. While the extent of the damage is yet to be fully realised, it is likely to delay IFA1s return to full capacity at a time where it is desperately needed. National Grid has four operational interconnectors two to France (IFA and IFA2), one to the Netherlands (BritNed) and one to Belgium (Nemo Link). Initially these were air-cooled and used analogue control systems, and in 2011 and 2012 respectively, the thyristor valves of Bipole 1 and Bipole 2 were replaced by modern water-cooled thyristor valves and digital control systems supplied by Alstom. Writes about those markets as well as climate change, climate science, the energy transition and renewable energy and investment. The maximum transmission power of this cable was 160megawatts (MW). Another cable linking the two electricity systems, IFA-2, was also completed earlier this year, although yesterdays incident will not have any impact on it, the National Grid added. The FTSE 100 energy company hopes to bring another 500MW of capacity back to service between October 2022 and May 2023, meaning the cable will be running at three-quarters of its capacity through that winter. Fire cuts British power imports adding to supply squeeze, soaring prices, This sprinting robot could become your next beach lifeguard, Domino effect as more EU institutions ban TikTok on work devices, TikTok is setting time-limits for teens. The National Grid has just reported a fire at the IFA1 interconnector site in Kent. Rowe, B.A., Goodrich, F.G., Herbert, I.R., Commissioning the Cross Channel h.v.d.c. According to local media reports, the IFA1 interconnector is expected to be offline until 13 October. The IFA connector was the first cross-Channel link, completed in 1961 with an initial 160MW capacity. On September 14, day-ahead pricing reached a record high, with a peak energy price of 2,500 per MWh, which is significantly higher than the 40 per MWh average baseload price during 2019-20. Capacity Rights Reduced By Approximately: When will I see my revised capacity rights on JAO? [3] In accordance with the IFA Access Rules capacity will be rounded down (e.g. IFA1 is a 2,000 MW interconnector that links Great Britain and France, and while it has recently been at half capacity, it was set to return to full capacity this weekend, before tragedy struck. Sopers Road, EN6 4SG, Registered as a business in England & Wales Arc-faults can be caused by things as innocent as putting a nail in the wall to hang a picture or plugging in an appliance with a defective electrical cord. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Following the incident, it was forced to notify the wholesale electricity market that 1000MW would be unavailable until 27 March 2022 as a result. This compares with an average in August of 106.83, and an average across 2020 of 35.26. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. [17], Sellindge Converter Station on the UK side of the interconnector, Cross-Channel ( old) - Echingen Converter Station, Cross-Channel ( old) - Lydd Converter Station, Cross-Channel ( new) - Les Mandarins Converter Station, Cross-Channel ( new) - Sellindge Converter Station. The site has been evacuated and the safety of our staff, emergency teams and local residents is our highest priority. Which countries in the EU are buying the most electric cars? Thankfully no one was injured and the emergency services got the fire under control and extinguished .The overall damage the fire caused is still be evaluated and we wish to take this opportunity to update you on how this has impacted on customers who currently hold LT capacity rights. The cable, known as the IFA Interconnector, will finally return to full service after further work, which National Grid hopes to complete by October 2023. The IFA2 interconnector, a second link between Britain and France commissioned in 2020, is operating at full capacity. This is in addition to another planned 1000MW outage until 25 September that has caused electricity prices to soar. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. IFA Availabilty Update. Energy crisis reignites demand for oil, threatening climate targets, says IEA, Sign up to the daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Smart navigation app uses 3D sound to guide blind people. The fire-damaged power link between the UK and France, known as the IFA interconnector will not be fully restored for another two years. VAT No: 988 8336 42. [9], This system remains the world's largest-capacity submarine cable HVDC system. The cable is also known as IFA,[1][2] and should not be confused with the new IFA-2, another interconnect with France that is three times as long but only half as powerful. Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) is a joint venture between the French Transmission Operator RTE and National Grid, operating the subsea electricity link between Great Britain and France, commissioned in 1986. The fire at the IFA site essentially means the loss of 2 gigawatts (GW) of interconnection capacity between the UK and France which further tightens the supply situation in the UK, said Roy Manuell, EU power and carbon analyst at ICIS Energy. Day-ahead British power prices jumped almost 19% on the news, nearing record highs hit this week exacerbated by low wind supply and soaring gas prices. In the long run, we will lose 2GW of import to the GB markets whilst we are struggling at the moment with low margins. The IFA interconnector has two Bipoles, each with a capacity of 1,000MW. Book your FREE ticket to the Big Zero Show 2023 now. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. We sell the capacity to energy traders and provide services to transmission system operators in the UK and France. [6] Given that the cable was laid on the surface of the seabed it was prone to being fouled by fishing nets, causing damage. Enabling cookies permits us to gather information about which categories and articles are the most interesting to our readers. It forced the shutdown, Aldi pays back customers for recycled plastic bottles, Ofgem to unveil new energy price cap next week, Drax to exit gas sales on customers SME business. With margins tight anyway for this winter, as exposed by National Grid ESOs early winter outlook publication this year, it puts the GB market in a risky position for the winter and especially if we suffer from periods of low wind and cold temperatures. Oversees and coordinates EMEA coverage of power, gas, LNG, coal and carbon markets and has 20 years' experience in journalism. IFA2 is 240 kilometres long subsea power cable, which stretches along the sea floor between Fareham, Hampshire in the UK and near . If you enjoyed this story you can sign up to our weekly email forEnergy Live News and if youre interested in hearing more about the journey to net zero by 2050, you can also sign up to thefuture Net Zeronewsletter. "There has been a fire at our IFA interconnector site in Sellindge and emergency services are in attendance," the National Grid stated. We can confirm the fire has been put out and Kent Fire & Rescue Service has left the IFA converter station site at 9.05 this morning. A fire in September 2021 caused the link to be removed from service. Day-ahead power prices hit record high, following highs in balancing market, Electric vehicles to increase electricity demand by 25% by 2040. [3], The first HVDC Cross-Channel scheme was built by ASEA and went into service in 1961,[4] between converter stations at Lydd in England (next to Dungeness Nuclear Power Station) and Echinghen, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, in France. "Our investigation is ongoing and we will update the market with any changes as necessary," a National Grid spokesperson said via email. 1000MW (Bipole 2) has been operating since last month. However, National Grid said that it has been able to reduce the outage time of 1,000MW of capacity at the IFA interconnector so that it will come back to service three days ahead of its previously published plan: We are completely focused on getting IFA safely returned to service as soon as possible and ensuring we are able to support the security of supply.. All Rights Reserved.