Fugro is set to deploy its geophysical vessel in a couple of days to carry out a maintenance survey of an interconnector between France and the UK that has been operating since 1986.
The 2 GW IFA 2000 high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical interconnector is approximately 70 kilometers long, with 45 kilometers being subsea.
Fugro Frontier has been appointed to perform a geophysical survey in the North Sea from the nearshore limit of the IFA 2000 cable south of Dover and extending west offshore to the French border on behalf of National Grid Ventures.
The survey will include the full coverage of dedicated survey lines with a geophysical survey system, multibeam echo sounder and towed sidescan sonar, and will provide seabed bathymetry and sidescan sonar data along the route.
The 54-meter-long vessel is expected to carry out the operations from May 16 to May 20, depending on the weather conditions and work progress.
Three electricity interconnectors with a total capacity of 4 GW are in service between France and the UK, including IFA 2000, commissioned in 1986, the 1 GW IFA2 , commissioned in January 2021, and the 1 GW ElecLink, commissioned in May 2022.
It was reported in February 2025 that the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and Great Britain’s independent energy regulator Ofgem had agreed to continue exploring further electricity interconnection development opportunities of around 1 GW capacity between the two countries.