Huge investment to keep first UK-France interconnector running until at least 2050

The UK's National Grid is investing up to £400 million (around €478 million) in the first cross-border electricity link between the UK and France, extending the operation of the interconnector commissioned in 1986 until at least 2050.

The investment, announced as the Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) project marks 40 years of operation, is part of National Grid’s wider plans to invest at least £70 billion across the group until March 2031.

IFA, jointly owned by the National Grid and French transmission system operator (TSO) Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE), was the first modern electricity interconnector linking Great Britain with continental Europe and the second subsea high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable link in the world when it began operating in 1986.

With its 2 GW, the interconnector is still Great Britain’s largest subsea connection by capacity and can carry enough electricity to power approximately three million British homes annually.

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