French energy markets regulator CRE has decided to postpone the approval of the IFA 2 power interconnection project with the United Kingdom to January 2017, to have more time to assess the impacts of Brexit on the project.
The proposed IFA 2 project would double the existing interconnection between Normandy (France) and England, with an additional capacity of 1 000 MW. In July 2015, Ofgem granted the IFA2 interconnectors a cap and floor regime in principle, since the project has demonstrated to provide significant net benefits for British consumers. Construction work on the IFA2 project should start in 2017, while commissioning is expected in 2020. The project is estimated to cost €740m.
Meanwhile, the CRE has approved French power transmission network operator RTE's €1.5bn budget for 2017, including €563m for the development of regional network (plus €403m for its renewal) and €250m for the development of its 400 kV network and of interconnections (plus €59m for their renewal).