Groupe Eurotunnel has completed the acquisition of the 51% stake held by its partner STAR Capital Partners in their ElecLink joint venture, which aims to develop a 1,000 MW high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) interconnector between the United Kingdom and France. Groupe Eurotunnel now holds 100% of ElecLink.
ElecLink is developing the first merchant line between the UK and France using the service tunnel of the Folkestone-Calais Eurotunnel (75 km long), which is expected to increase the existing interconnection capacity between the two countries by 50%. The French and British energy regulators CRE and Ofgem granted the 1 000 MW transmission capacity project a 25-year "partial exemption" from certain European regulations, such as ownership unbundling and third party access, which was approved by the European Commission in July 2014. Under the terms of the 25-year exemption, Eurotunnel will shortly hold an auction for part of the capacity of the new cable, which will then enable the financing of the project to be put in place without impacting the Group’s credit rating. Construction is expected to start before 31 July 2017 and the €500m project could be commissioned as early as 2019 (no later than 31 July 2020).