UK-based Intertek has been appointed by FAB Link Ltd. to provide marine environmental and planning support for the France-Alderney-Britain (FAB) Project, a proposed electrical interconnector situated underwater between France and Great Britain via the island of Alderney.
Intertek will be responsible for coordinating pre-application consultation, consent applications and consent compliance activities for FAB Link’s offshore infrastructure between UK landfall and southern extent of Alderney waters. This will include delivery of a marine licence application to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) in England and a Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) licence application to the States of Guernsey for protection of the seabed required during the cable installation process.
Frank Beiboer, Managing Director of Intertek Energy & Water, said: “With a submarine power cable track record which spans more than 15 years and 10 interconnector projects, we are pleased to have been selected by FAB Link and look forward to working closely with their project team to develop this major international offshore infrastructure project.”
FAB Link Ltd is engaged with Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTE) in the joint development of a 1,400MW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity interconnector project that will connect the French and British electricity grids.
The project is also designed to provide a route to market for marine renewable energy planned to be constructed in the seas around Alderney.
The Fab Link will consist of two pairs of electrical cables, a converter station at each end, and connections into the high voltage grids at each end. The interconnector will travel nearly 220 km between the electrical substations at Menuel, on the Cotentin peninsula in France, and near Exeter, Devon, England and is scheduled to commence construction in 2018.
FAB has been recognized as a “Project of Common Interest” by the European Union following support received from both the French and UK governments. The FAB project has received funding from the European Commission through the Connecting Europe Facility.