The aim of the Celtic Interconnector project, led by RTE and its counterpart EirGrid, is to create a high voltage direct current (HVDC) line, spanning about 575 km (of which about 500 km subsea), allowing direct electricity exchanges between France and Ireland. With a capacity of 700 MW, the cable will be routed between the northern coast of Brittany and the southern coast of Ireland.

This France-Ireland interconnection project will help further the European Union’s energy transition and climate change goals by favouring the development of renewable energies and the shift toward a low-carbon electricity mix. It will also strengthen energy solidarity between the two countries.

More information can be found here.

Power is supplied to Haute-Durance primarily via a single 150 kV line built in 1936. The region now finds itself in a vulnerable position, particularly when demand peaks in winter. The programme RTE designed for the department is divided into six projects. It involves replacing the existing 150 kV network with a 225 kV network, and upgrading the 63 kV network (undergrounding, reconstruction or strengthening) all while protecting the local environment. The programme is being carried out through 18 work projects that will be staggered over time until the last step is completed in 2020.

France’s Multiannual Energy Programme calls for the installation of 3,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2023. Offshore development offers significant power generation potential given the country’s natural assets (11 million km² of water in its jurisdiction). The highest-potential areas are concentrated off the coasts of Normandy, Brittany and Pays de la Loire. The government launched two tenders for the construction of offshore windfarms in these areas, followed by a third late in 2018 for a project off the coast of Dunkirk. RTE is in charge of studies and connecting these farms to the grid. The solution being considered involves creating 225 kV double-circuit lines, starting out underwater between the windfarm connected to the offshore substation and the landing point and then running underground between the landing point and the 225 kV substation where they are earthed.

The sites selected through the first call for tenders have already been the subject of consultations with local stakeholders, government services and infrastructure operators to determine the best possible path for the lines from a technical, economic and environmental standpoint. Late in 2015, public inquiries were launched for the projects in the towns that will be affected by the future Fécamp, Courseulles-sur-Mer, Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Brieuc windfarms. Production is not scheduled to start at these sites until 2021.

The Bay of Biscay project involves creating a new interconnection between France and Spain. Scheduled to go into service in 2025, it will boost exchange capacity between the two countries to almost 5,000 MW. This new 370 km link will run from the substation in Cubnezais (near Bordeaux) to the one in Gatika (near Bilbao), and will be the first France-Spain interconnection that is partially underwater.

The France-Spain electricity interconnection across the Bay of Biscay, which Europe has declared a Project of Common Interest, is being carried out by INELFE, the company set up by RTE and its Spanish counterpart REE (Red Eléctrica de España). More information about the project is available here.

Conducted in cooperation with UK transmission system operator National Grid, the IFA2 project (construction of a new France-England interconnection) is part of the plan to support the energy transition and enhance security of electricity supply in both countries.

The project involves creating a DC line around 225 km long between Tourbe, which is located south of Caen, and Fareham in England. Converter stations at both ends will transform the DC into AC so the line can be connected to the transmission grid. The future interconnector will have transmission capacity of 1 GW.

Launched in the spring of 2015 and conducted in partnership with RTE’s Italian counterpart TERNA, this project involves building a new France-Italy interconnector between the substations at Grande-Ile (Sainte-Hélène du Lac) and Piossasco (Turin), an underground DC line almost 190 km long. The new line will represent a bona fide technological feat and help increase mutual assistance possibilities in Europe by boosting exchange capacity between these two countries by 60%.

More information about this project can be found on the RTE website.

Based on the targets the European Commission and French government have set for the energy transition, RTE estimates that the electric grid will require significant additional flexibilities starting in 2030. RTE has begun launching experiments in France so the flexibilities needed can be identified and deployed.

The power system can absorb the level of renewable energy development called for in the Multiannual Energy Programme, which was open to public consultation. With its current scale, the existing grid, combined with the deployment of automated machines and digital technologies, will be able to integrate the new generation capacity planned over the period.

Beyond the timeframe of the Multiannual Energy Programme, the grid will require additional flexibilities, whether in the form of increased demand-side management, mobilisation of different forms of storage (distributed or large-volume) and hydrogen, depending on the energy mix scenario.
RTE has launched an experiment called “RINGO” to test electricity storage on its grid at three sites in France.
RTE selected three sites and three different consortia for this experiment: the test at Vingeanne (Côte d’Or) will be handled by Nidec Asi, the one at Bellac (Haute-Vienne) by Saft/Schneider, and the one at Ventavon (Hautes-Alpes) by Blue Solutions/Engie Solutions/SCLE INEO.

Work on these projects will get under way in 2020.

More information is available at Média RTE France.