National Grid announced on Thursday, October 29, that it will invest up to £400 million ($534.7 million) to keep the two GW Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) electricity link between Great Britain and France operating until at least 2050.
The programme will upgrade the interconnector site's buildings and facilities, as well as its technical equipment. IFA is jointly owned by National Grid and RTE, whose investment was not disclosed. The announcement coincides with the link's 40th anniversary.
This commitment is part of National Grid's wider programme of investment: at least £70 billion across the group over the five years to March 2031.
Rebecca Sedler, President of NGV UK at National Grid, said IFA has made payments of nearly £300 million to UK consumers since 2020. She said the investment would allow the link, "to meet the next phase of electricity demand, from AI to electric vehicles."
The 2,000 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector began operating in 1986. It runs for approximately 70 kilometres, including 45 kilometres of subsea cable, between converter stations at Sellindge in Kent and Les Mandarins near Calais.
National Grid estimates the link has delivered 409 TWh of cumulative net imports into Great Britain. In 2022, exports from Britain supported France as its nuclear fleet experienced outages.
An electrical fire at Sellindge on September 15, 2021 took the entire interconnector out of service. Full capacity was restored in January 2023.
IFA, IFA2 and ElecLink together provide four GW of UK–France interconnection capacity.
