2012 Activity and sustainable development report - RTE

A NEED FOR INNOVATIONInvestments in 2012 for the renewal of the transmission network totalled€363 million, of which €186 million covered improved security. Regional networksaccounted for 85% of this budget, but the most complex project was the renovationof the IFA 2000 link between France and England. Completed in 2012, it calledon all of RTE’s knowledge of engineering.INNOVATING TO…RENOVATEclose-up onTHE IFA 2000 LINKOn 23 July 2012, the IFA 2000 direct current link betweenFrance and the United Kingdom was returned to serviceat full capacity after two years of work… just days before theopening of the London Olympics. The challenge was metthanks to all the efforts of teams from RTE and its Britishcounterpart, National Grid, and to the close coordination thathad developed over fi ve years. First commissioned in 1986,this 70 km link, which includes a 45-kilometre deep-seasection between Sangatte, on the French coast, andFolkestone in England, is essential to the security and fluidityof the European network. Providing power of 2,000 MWin direct current, IFA 2000 can satisfy the needs in electricityof approximately 2 million people.RENOVATION OF THE VALVE ROOM /At the heart of the French conversion stationat the Les Mandarins site near Calais,the thyristor converters transform 400 kValternating current into 270 kV direct currentfor transmission on the 70-kilometre IFA2000 link. They have been replaced by a newgeneration of valves that perform better andare more robust. The refrigeration systemand the control and command equipmenthave also been renewed.AN UNUSUAL PROJECTUnusually, the project to renovate the French andBritish power conversion stations occurred in two phasesto ensure that one of the two 1,000 MW units could remainin service throughout the renovation period and operate atfull capacity in the winter to limit disruption for users: bothfactors put pressure on the organisation of the work and werea fi rst for RTE. Another fi rst: the conversion stations wererenovated in exactly the same way, synchronised under asingle contract between the two transmission networkoperators and Alstom. The first terminal was restoredto service in autumn 2011 and the second in July 2012. Thishas been a major undertaking because of the replacementof thyristor converters but also the renovation of control andcommand and the refrigeration system (which now ensuresthat the valve rooms are maintained at constant temperatureand hygrometry). It will improve the reliability and availabilityof the IFA 2000 interconnection for many years and for thebenefi t of millions of users. •40