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. The current 2, MW link is bi-directional and the countries can import or export depending upon market demands, mostly depending upon weather conditions and availability of renewable energy on the British Isles, and French surplus of nuclear generation or demand for electric heating.
It was completed in , and replaced the first cross-Channel link which was a MW link completed in and decommissioned in A fire in September caused the link to be removed from service. National Grid announced that half of its capacity would be restored on 20 October , with full capacity being restored by October This scheme was equipped with mercury-arc valves , each having four anodes in parallel.
In order to keep the disturbances of the magnetic compasses of passing ships as small as possible, a bipolar cable was used. The maximum transmission power of this cable was megawatts MW. The cable was built by ABB. Whilst repairs were undertaken there was considerable down time on the circuit resulting in a loss of trading. Indeed, by the circuit was disconnected from the Main Transmission System.
Unlike most HVDC schemes, where the two converter stations are built by the same manufacturer, the two converter stations of the 2, MW scheme were built by different manufacturers although both have subsequently become part of the same parent company, Alstom. This HVDC-link is 73 km 45 miles long in route, with 70 km 43 miles between the two ends. Cables are laid in pairs in four trenches so that the magnetic fields generated by the two conductors are largely cancelled.
The landside parts of the link consist of 8 cables with lengths of In common with the scheme, there is no provision to permit neutral current to flow through the sea. Although each station includes an earth electrode, this is used only to provide a neutral reference, and only one of the two electrodes is connected at a given time so that there can be no current flow between them. The system was built with solid-state semiconductor thyristor valves from the outset.
