Subsea electricity cable linking Lee-on-the-Solent and France pays off its carbon cost in less than a year

National Grid’s IFA2 interconnector - a one gigawatt (GW) electricity cable which stretches 120 miles across the seabed of the English Channel seabed - was commissioned in January 2021 and has already paid off its carbon cost.

The link enables the UK to import enough clean electricity to power 1 million UK homes.

In its first 12 months of operation, it has saved 300,000 tonnes of carbon by importing zero-carbon electricity generated by nuclear power from France.

Nicola Medalova, managing director of interconnectors for National Grid, said: ‘This is fantastic news and highlights the critical role that interconnectors like IFA2 are playing in delivering a cleaner, more secure and more affordable energy system for UK consumers.

‘By 2030, we estimate our interconnectors, including IFA2, will have saved the UK around 100 million tonnes of CO2 by enabling the fast and flexible sharing of clean and green energy with our European neighbours.’

The IFA2 interconnector’s saving is 10,000 tonnes more than the entire amount of carbon emitted during its four-year build and any carbon that will be used in the daily running of the asset over its lifetime.

IFA2, a partnership with French operator RTE, is the UK’s second link to France. IFA, the first one, started in 1986.

It is a separate scheme to the Aquind project in Portsmouth which has been rejected by the government but is set to go to a judicial review, and has caused controversy as it would see large swatches of the city dug up.

Interconnectors enable access to the lowest priced electricity available from a broader and more diverse pool of supply sources.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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