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France puts off UK interconnector projects, prioritizes new European links

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France puts off UK interconnector projects, prioritizes new European links

France may prioritize Belgium, Germany and Spain over the U.K. for new electric power links after it completes two new interconnectors with Britain.

The IFA2 link between France and Britain is expected to be commissioned in 2021, while the ElecLink project — being built in the Channel Tunnel — may still require further regulatory approval on safety. Once these two are online, French grid operator Reseau de Transport d'Electricite, or RTE, will move on to construct 5 GW of new power links with Belgium, Germany and Spain by 2025.

RTE Chairman Thomas Veyrenc said France is holding off on three or four later-stage projects in the U.K. until a resolution around Brexit is achieved and the economic impact becomes clear, according to a Bloomberg News report on Sept. 17.

RTE has plans to develop another 5 GW of new power links with the U.K. and Ireland, but they require "further economic studies or European subsidies." As such, RTE did not provide a specific time frame as to when it will start working on those projects.

The addition of new interconnection capacity is necessary in Europe, especially considering last month's power failure in the U.K.

Subject to the approval of French regulators, Veyrenc said the grid operator plans to spend €21 billion to adapt or upgrade existing lines, €7 billion to connect more than 10 GW of planned offshore wind farms and €3 billion to digitize equipment.

RTE plans to invest €33 billion, or $36.4 billion, by 2035 to upgrade the French transmission system, build more international power lines and boost the capacity of its interconnectors to about 30 GW in the next 15 years.