Energy and marine consultancy ABL has secured a contract by INELFE (INterconexión ELéctrica Francia-España) to provide marine warranty survey (MWS) services to oversee the offshore transportation and installation (T&I) of the Biscay interconnector between France and Spain.
INELFE is the joint company set up by the French and Spanish electricity transmission system operators, Réseau de Transport d'Électricité and Red Eléctrica de España, and is responsible for building and energizing the French-Spanish interconnectors (first Baixas-Santa Llogaia and now Biscay Gulf) to increase the interchange capacity between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe.
The project, co-financed by the European Union, consists of installing the interconnections between the Gatika substation near Bilbao, Spain and the Cubnezais substation in the French region of Aquitaine.
It will feature four cables, two per each link, with a transmission capacity of 2 x 1,000 MW. In total, almost 400 km of land and mainly subsea interconnector cables using High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology will be installed.
ABL's scope of work includes the technical document review of all procedures, drawings and calculations relating to warranted operations, suitability survey of the proposed fleet including dynamic positioning (DP) trials where relevant, and on-site attendance at the offshore operations.
"Interconnectors play an increasingly crucial role in our modern energy systems. They enhance our energy security, improve cost and energy efficiency, and facilitate greater renewable energy integration into electrical systems.
“Our track-record covers experience supporting the construction of some of the world's most significant interconnector projects in Europe, Americas, Middle East and Asia Pacific. In short, we have the experience and the technical expertise to support this challenging project,” said Hugues Delanoue, Managing Director of ABL in France.