As of 2005[update], imports of electricity from France have historically accounted for about 5% of electricity available in the UK. According to local media reports, the IFA1 interconnector is expected to be offline until 13 October. We have extended the outage on the other 1000MW, which was offline due to a planned outage, until 25 September. Following an initial review, we have updated the market that 1000MW is unavailable until 27 March 2022. National Grid recently erected the worlds first T-pylon, which is shorter than traditional high-voltage pylons and has a smaller footprint on the ground. A fire occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 15th September 2021 atour UK Sellindge site resulting in the cables capacity being reduced to 0MW. We wish to update you on the major incident that occurred at IFA yesterday. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Thats because Britain is currently facing an energy crunch with limited supplies, low margins and soaring power prices. This is combined with the fact that some generators that were mothballed over summer have yet to restart, making wholesale electricity prices surpass their highest-ever level even prior to the interconnector fire. link, Last edited on 27 November 2022, at 00:36, "Interconnector customer portal | National Grid Group", "Kent's burnt-out electricity cable will take two more years to get back to full service", "HVDC Submarine Power Cables in the World", "How a Loose Anchor Cut Up Britain's Power Link With France", "Batteries act as first responders when UK-France interconnector trips", "National Grid site fire shuts down power cable between France and UK", "Fire shuts one of UK's most important power cables in midst of supply crunch", "Fire-damaged power link will be out for six months, says National Grid", "The UK's Energy Price Surge Could be Just Getting Started", http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/tna/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file11257.pdf/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HVDC_Cross-Channel&oldid=1124032410, This page was last edited on 27 November 2022, at 00:36. IFA2, National Grid's second electricity interconnector linking the UK and France, is now able to flow . Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. We will then undertake further work in order to bring the full 2000MW back by October 2023. 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. Following a detailed assessment on the 1000MW of capacity that is offline due to damage caused by a fire at our site in Sellindge in September, we need to carry out extensive work to safely return it to service. IFA2 Interconnector Commissioned in 2020, IFA2 is the second link to France that National Grid has developed with RTE. Which countries have embraced a 4-day workweek and hows it going. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. until 13 October as a result. Today the tight market will be affected. We are completely focused on getting IFA safely returned to service as soon as possible and ensuring we are able to support security of supply, the company said in a statement. We have notified the market via REMIT that we expect our IFA interconnector to return to full service on 16 December 2022 - 10 months ahead of our previous estimate. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); SJP Business Media. 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 . ifa interconnector fire cause. [9], This system remains the world's largest-capacity submarine cable HVDC system. 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. 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. "The outage is going to lift the potential for price volatility as long as its offline. and of course demand will get higher as we move further into winter, said Glenn Rickson, head of European power analysis at S&P Global Platts Analytics. The IFA Interconnector that meets the UK in Sellindge can carry about 2GW between the two countries but the National Grid said a fire has forced a complete evacuation of the site. The current 2,000MW 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. January 25, 2021, by Adis Ajdin. Fire damage at the National Grid's Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) site at Sellindge in Kent. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Because the first installation did not meet increasing requirements, it was replaced in 19751986 by a new HVDC system with a maximum transmission rating of 2,000MW between France and the United Kingdom, for which two new converter stations were built in Sellindge, between Ashford and Folkestone in Kent, England and in Bonningues-ls-Calais (Les Mandarins station), near Calais, France. The IFA Interconnector that meets the UK in Sellindge can carry about 2GW between the two countries but the National Grid said a fire has forced a complete evacuation of the site. 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. Auction timetables are available on JAO and the IFA website. There has been a fire at our IFA interconnector site in Sellindge and emergency services are in attendance, a National Grid spokesperson said. "We are completely focused on getting. Which countries in the EU are buying the most electric cars? The IFA1 interconnector is expected to be offline until Oct. 13, Elexon data shows. In accordance with the IFA Access Rules (Part 3 Long Term Allocation Rules, Chapter 9, Curtailment P139) holders of curtailed Long Term Transmission Rights shall be entitled to receive reimbursement per hour equal to: a) the Marginal Price of the initial auction; multiplied by; b) the volume in MW per hour corresponding to the difference between the Long Term Transmission rights held by the Registered Participant before and after the curtailment. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. The landside parts of the link consist of 8cables with lengths of 18.5km (11.5 miles) in England, and 6.35km (3.95 miles) in France.[8]. A key substation at Kent was left damaged by a fire in September.It forced the shutdown of one of the most important power cables, which brings electricity from France to the UK.. Tomorrow a forecast tight market will become really tight; expect even higher prices in the spot markets going forward. The fire-damaged power link between the UK and France, known as the IFA interconnector will not be fully restored for another two years. National Grid, which owns the 2,000 megawatt cable, expects half of its capacity to return to service on Wednesday but said extensive work would be needed to bring the power link back to full service. A fire at National Grid's IFA1 interconnector site in Sellindge is to see power prices once again spike in the UK as 1GW of capacity drops off the system. The electricity system operator, which is also owned by National Grid, warned last week that the risk of power cuts to factories and homes this winter had increased after the cable outage combined with planned shutdowns at gas plants and the retirement of two nuclear reactors. National Grid said late on Wednesday the fire would mean 1 GW, or half of capacity, would remain offline until 27 March 2022. National Grid has four operational interconnectors - two to France (IFA and IFA2), one to the Netherlands (BritNed) and one to Belgium (Nemo Link). However, France imports energy as needed during the winter to meet demand, or when there is low availability of hydroelectric power. Lost capacity will compound UKs energy woes while extensive work is carried out on French connection. In accordance with the IFA Access Rules (Part 3 Long Term Allocation Rules, Chapter 9 Curtailment P135) capacity will be curtailed in line with capacity available. We will bring 500MW back to service from October 2022 through to May 2023.. The site has been evacuated and the safety of our staff, emergency teams and local residents is our highest priority. Thankfully no one was injured and the emergency services got the fire under . Rowe, B.A., Goodrich, F.G., Herbert, I.R., Commissioning the Cross Channel h.v.d.c. 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. We have been able to reduce the outage time of 1000MW of capacity at the IFA interconnector so that it will come back to service on 20th October, ahead of the 23rd October date we had previously published. 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. 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. A fire occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 15th September 2021 at our UK Sellindge site resulting in the cables capacity being redu. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. We have notified the market that 1000MW. National Grid announced that half of its capacity would be restored on 20 October 2021, with full capacity being restored by October 2023. We will provide a further update in due course. A major fire impacted the GB side of the interconnector, with 12 fire engines on-site to deal with the blaze. [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. 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In 2006, 97.5% of the energy transfers were made from France to UK, supplying the equivalent of 3million English homes. The cable was built by ABB. [11] Repairs were completed by the end of February 2017. 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 IFA interconnector is currently out of service following a fire at our site in Sellindge. tim petrovic career earnings ifa interconnector fire cause. Customers will be compensated at Initial Price Paid. Big Zero Report 2022. "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. 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. We will bring 500MW back to service from October 2022 through to May 2023. National Grid confirmed it will bring 500MW back to service from . We wish to update you on the major incident that occurred at IFA yesterday. The EU Commission and the UK Government continue to negotiate the terms of a free trade deal. 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. National Grid has four operational interconnectors - two to France (IFA and IFA2), one to the Netherlands (BritNed) and one to Belgium (Nemo Link). 1 GW of capacity to remain offline until March 2022, Day-ahead British power prices jump almost 19%. Imports through the interconnector have generally been around the highest possible level, given the capacity of the link. Curtailment is Pro Rata and therefore where curtailment is required, customers capacity will be reduced in line with the curtailment required. We sell the capacity to energy traders and provide services to transmission system operators in the UK and France. 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. read more. Finland will allow transgender people to change their legal gender at their own request and without undergoing sterilisation, new legislation signed by the Finnish President confirmed on Friday. The other 1 GW capacity of the IFA1 link is currently offline due to planned maintenance which will be extended until Sept. 25, the spokesperson said. A fire at National Grid's IFA interconnector has led to the site in Sellindge, Kent to be evacuated but it could now seriously affect energy costs. Wednesday's almost 19% price jump took British day-ahead electricity prices to 475.00 pounds per megawatt hour (MWh), close to a record high of 540 pounds MWh hit this week. We are also in the process of commissioning North Sea Link, our latest interconnector to Norway, to provide additional capacity next month - ahead of the winter period. Our IFA2 interconnector is operating as normal at full capacity. The National Grid has just reported a fire at the IFA1 interconnector site in Kent. I have LT capacity rights, will I be curtailed? National Grid expects that the French IFA interconnector will restart full operations by December next year. Prices of electricity on the day-ahead market peaked at 2,500.01 per MWh for delivery between 7pm and 8pm on the N2EX exchange, with an average daily price of 424.61. "There has been a fire at our IFA interconnector site in Sellindge and emergency services are in attendance," the National Grid stated. The IFA2 interconnector, a second link between Britain and France commissioned in 2020, is operating and not affected. In common with the 1961 scheme, there is no provision to permit neutral current to flow through the sea. Please visit the BMRS website for the latest market updates via theREMIT report. Image: National Grid - IFA Interconnector, e are completely focused on getting IFA safely returned to service as soon as possible and. Future auctions will be adjusted where necessary. A key substation at Kent was left damaged by a fire. Which countries have banned TikTok, and why? To learn more about what cookies we use and how to change your preferences please check our cookie policy. "We are also in the process of commissioning North Sea Link, our latest interconnector to Norway, to provide additional capacity next month - ahead of the winter period," the grid added. Finland will allow transgender people to change their legal gender at their own request and without undergoing sterilisation, new legislation signed by the Finnish President confirmed on Friday. A fire occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 15th September 2021 atour UK Sellindge site resulting in the cables capacity being redu Read More. Smart navigation app uses 3D sound to guide blind people. [2] The 204-kilometre (127 mi) high voltage DC (HVDC) cable operates at +/-320kV with the capacity to transmit 1,000 MW of power. The shutdown came at a time of high prices and supply shortage in the UK electricity market, caused by low wind speeds and high prices for natural gas. [3] Wholesale electricity prices have soared after a fire at an interconnector linking the French and British power networks, the National Grid has reported. All Rights Reserved. In addition, we will no longer need to take Bipole 1 out of service from May 2023 to October 2023, as communicated in our previous REMIT notification. On the other side, France has now got a net extra 2GW of available supply so this should help prices on the continent.. No: 07209102 The IFA interconnector has two Bipoles, each with a capacity of 1,000MW. A fire at National Grid's IFA power interconnector site in Sellindge has caused the site to be evacuated while emergency services deal with the incident, the UK transmission system operator said Sept. 15. National Grid has four operational interconnectors two to France (IFA and IFA2), one to the Netherlands (BritNed) and one to Belgium (Nemo Link). LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A fire halted a power link between France and Britain on Wednesday, squeezing tight UK electricity supply further and sending prices to near record highs. There has been a fire at our IFA interconnector site in Sellindgeand emergency services are in attendance. BritNed and Nemo Link interconnectors are also operating at full capacity, the grid said. 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. Read More; IFA2 Go-Live. A fire occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 15th September 2021 at our UK Sellindge site resulting in the cables capacity being reduced to 0MW. A spokesperson for National Grids electricity system operator (ESO) said Britain would have sufficient electricity supplies on Wednesday despite the incident. The operators annual winter outlook report said the UK had enough capacity to avoid blackouts affecting households and factories but tight supplies were likely to keep market prices at near record levels throughout the winter. why is marram grass important. energy markets rocketed to all-time highs, the risk of power cuts to factories and homes this winter had increased, hundreds of thousands of homes into fuel poverty for the first time. Writes about those markets as well as climate change, climate science, the energy transition and renewable energy and investment. We thank you for you co-operation during this challenging period and we can assure you that we are endeavouring to return the IFA to full availability in a safe and timely manner. Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) is a joint venture between the French transmission operator RTE and National Grid, operating a 2 gigawatt subsea electricity link between Britain and France. 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. We are on-site assessing the damage and investigating the cause of the fire. 1000MW (Bipole 2) has been operating since last month. The IFA2 interconnector, a second link between Britain and France commissioned in 2020, is operating at full capacity. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. One of Britains most important electricity import cables will not return to full service for another two years after a fire forced it to shut, compounding the UKs energy woes ahead of a looming winter crunch. Commissioned in 2020, IFA2 is the second link to France that National Grid has developed with RTE.