Ruling due in April on UK-France ElecLink's risk assessment

London — Getlink will find out in April whether it can proceed with pulling the UK-France ElecLink cable through the Eurotunnel, the operator said Thursday.

The 1 GW high voltage direct current interconnection project has been delayed by suspension of conditional consent in October 2017 by the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), which supervises construction and operation matters relating to the tunnel on behalf of the French and British governments.

"The IGC has announced that it has received the final dossier [assessing risk] and that it intends to make its decision regarding authorising the pulling of the cable through the Tunnel in April 2020," Getlink said in a short statement on 2019 revenues.

On January 9, the IGC said the dossier from Eurotunnel "contains the risk assessment of this infrastructure."

"The assessment of this dossier is in progress, especially in consideration of the relevant safety issues," it said, noting the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority (CTSA) had engaged external experts to advise on specific points.

In November last year French system operator RTE said it doubted the link would be operational by mid-2020.