Fab Link

FAB Link Limited has issued a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in order to secure the land rights necessary for the purpose of constructing, operating and maintaining the FAB Project along the proposed underground cable route in East Devon. The CPO relates to land between Budleigh Salterton and the National Grid substation near Exeter and will be subject to confirmation from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

In parallel with the CPO process, the FAB Project team are continuing to seek to acquire land rights by private agreement.

Further information regarding the order and accompanying maps can be found here

[VISIT CPO PAGE]

Proposals to install an electricity interconnector between France, Alderney and Britain have been unveiled to residents of the island.

A well-attended event at the Island Hall was told about the benefits the project would bring to Alderney, bringing immediate opportunities for fibre-optic broadband connection to the island and delivering the power cable infrastructure required for future connections to the UK and France.

The 1,400 megawatt underground and subsea interconnector would come ashore in Alderney at Longis Bay and Corblets Bay and would consist entirely of subsea and underground cables.

Nearly 300 people attended the event on August 10th which gave them an opportunity to discuss the initiative with members of the FAB Project team.

Questions were asked about the planning process as well as potential future impacts of planned tidal power generation. Chris Jenner, the FAB Development Manager, said: “We were very pleased to have met so many people, and would like to thank everyone who took the time to come along.

“We acknowledge and respect the concerns raised by some of the residents. However, we would like to reiterate that the planning process we are following means that at this stage we are consulting on the FAB Project’s underground and subsea cables.

“We still welcome further feedback on the FAB Project undersea and underground cables, and there is an opportunity for people who weren’t able to attend the event to give us their views via our website.”

Alderney Renewable Energy (ARE) is one of the partners in the FAB Project. Declan Gaudion, Director of ARE, said: “We will continue to work closely with local stakeholders and the States of Alderney to further develop our tidal generation proposals, including a proposed converter station in Mannez Quarry in due course, which are separate from the FAB Project.

“This will provide an opportunity at the right time in the future for ARE to come forward with detailed proposals and assessments in order that local stakeholders will be better informed on the basis of facts and evidence, rather than speculation.

“ARE looks forward to continued development of the FAB Project, which will enable us to develop the biggest opportunity our Island has – tidal energy projects.”

The public consultation on the FAB Project is running from July 25th to September 5th. Full details of the consultation and exhibition material is available online at www.fablink.net, as well as an online feedback form.

Proposals to install an electricity interconnector between France, Alderney and Britain are being welcomed by around 90 per cent of people who took part in three days of community consultation in East Devon run by the FAB Project.

The aims of the FAB Project are to increase energy security, to lower bills for consumers, and to link up with tidal generators planned off Alderney, providing a way of transmitting reliable and predictable low-carbon electricity to both the UK and France.

The 1,400 megawatt underground and subsea interconnector would come ashore in the UK at Budleigh Salterton before linking to the National Grid substation near Broadclyst.

It would include a converter station near Exeter International Airport to change high-voltage direct current (HVDC) suitable for long-distance transmission to high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) used by the National Grid. There would be no pylons associated with the FAB Project in the UK, where the converter station would be the only part above ground.

Three public consultation events into the UK part of the project were held at Budleigh Salterton, Cranbrook and Woodbury Park on July 26, 27 and 28 where the detailed proposals were on show, and experts from the team were on hand to answer questions.

Early analysis of the feedback from the events shows that 90 per cent of the people surveyed said they supported the aims of the project.

Chris Jenner, the FAB Development Manager, said: “Over the three days we had more than 350 visitors and we’ve already received an encouraging amount of feedback which shows that the people of East Devon are very supportive of the project.

“We were very pleased to have met so many people, and would like to thank everyone who took the time to come along. There was a wealth of information available, which people have said they really appreciated, and everyone we asked said they came away with a good understanding of what we want to achieve.

“Our consultation runs until Monday, September 5, and full details of our proposals, including material from the three events, are available on our website www.fablink.net as well as at Budleigh Salterton library during normal opening hours.

“We still welcome further feedback, and there is an opportunity for people who weren’t able to attend any of the events to give us their views via the website. We’re particularly asking people to let us know which of two alternative routes through Budleigh Salterton they prefer.

“We have a further consultation event in Alderney on August 10, and once the consultation period closes we’ll carefully consider all the responses before drawing up our final proposals and submitting them to the relevant authorities for approval.”

The FAB Project partners – FAB Link in the UK and Alderney and RTE in France – have reached a significant milestone in the development of the project to link Devon and Normandy by undersea electricity cables. Having completed a pre-qualification process for contractors to design and build the link, the full procurement process has now been launched.

The project partners will jointly contract for the two packages that will be required to build the project. The first package is for the on- and offshore High Voltage Direct Current cables and the second package is for the converter stations in France and Britain on either side of the link (and the short underground High Voltage Alternating Current link to the National Grid in Britain).

The aim is to receive bids back from the market before the end of the year in keeping with the project plan to start construction in early 2018.

Public consultations on the FAB Project will be held in Britain and Alderney from Monday 25th July until Monday 5th September 2016.

Consultation documentation will be available to view on this site from 25th July, along with an opportunity to provide your feedback on the proposals which will inform the final decision on the route and application to build a converter station in Devon.

[VISIT CONSULTATIONS PAGE]

Public consultations on the FAB Project will be held in Britain and Alderney from Monday 25th July until Monday 5th September 2016.

Consultation documentation will be available to view on this site from 25th July, along with an opportunity to provide your feedback on the proposals which will inform the final decision on the route and application to build a converter station in Devon.

[View the Events]

A major international project which will see electricity flowing between France, the Channel Islands and the UK has come a step closer with fresh surveys taking place off East Devon and Alderney.

The team behind the FAB Link scheme is planning to lay two pairs of electricity cables between the Cherbourg peninsula in Normandy in northern France, and Devon. This interconnector, as it is called, will be able to carry power generated in Britain to France and vice versa, helping to ensure security of supply in the UK and continental Europe.
In addition, it will route via the Channel Island of Alderney in order to pick up electricity which will be generated by a huge tidal stream power plant that is proposed in the island’s waters.

FAB Link has been designated a key energy project by the European Union, and last year won the approval of Ofgem, Britain’s energy regulator. The French partner is RTE, Réseau de transport d’électricité, that country’s national grid company.

Survey work at the proposed ‘landing site’ at Budleigh Salterton beach in East Devon has been taking place this week following initial work in the summer of 2015.
Declan Gaudion, of Alderney Renewable Energy, one of the partners in the FAB Link project, said: “Alderney has some of the strongest tides in the world, and we intend to harness their power, which when fully developed, will generate enough electricity to power at least 1.8 million homes.

“The FAB Link interconnector will enable us to export this clean, reliable and renewable energy to consumers in Britain and France and beyond.”
Chris Jenner, from FAB Link, said: “The aim of our interconnector is to provide extra security of supply to both Britain and France, while at the same time helping to keep down prices for the consumer.

“Once the tidal power from Alderney is online, we’ll also be able to provide very low carbon electricity to the people of Britain and the rest of Europe.

“Here in the UK we’re looking into the feasibility of bringing our undersea cables ashore at Budleigh Salterton. We’re currently analysing data from engineering and environmental offshore surveys of the planned undersea route just off the coast.

“The response from all the local stakeholders we’ve started discussions with has been very positive.

“Once we have laid the cables underground we will reinstate the land so that it looks just as it did before we arrived. Nevertheless, we aim to hold a series of meetings with interested members of the public in the summer so we can hear what people think about our proposals.”

Gro Wæraas de Saint Martin, from RTE in France, said: “The project has won the approval of the Commission of the European Union because it will greatly increase energy security on both sides of the English Channel and beyond. Linking national grids in this way means that as more renewable energy sources are developed across Europe, the benefits of low-carbon power can be enjoyed by as many consumers as possible.”

The FAB Link project is entering its next phase of development, with the detailed submarine survey commencing in the second half of August. FAB Link have placed a contract for bathymetrical, geophysical, geotechnical and benthic (marine biological) surveys with MMT of Sweden. Up to four vessels will be mobilised and the work will cover the proposed shore-crossings in Devon and Alderney, near-shore surveys near to those landfalls and offshore surveys of the proposed submarine cable route. Onshore surveys of the proposed landfall sites in Devon and Alderney will also be undertaken.

For details of the survey locations please see the attached Notice to Mariners that has been distributed widely in the marine industry and to other interested parties.

Further information can be found here

Following its Initial Project Assessment, Ofgem has granted FAB Link a cap and floor regime subject to certain conditions. The decision enables the project to continue development with the expectation that a revenue floor will provide the necessary certainty to project funders through construction and operation. A Final Project Assessment will be carried out prior to financial close in order to set the values of the revenue cap and floor.

Further information can be found here

Or by clicking here to view as attachment.

Ofgem announced today that it is minded-to award FAB (and two other projects) a cap and floor regime. The cap and floor regime will guarantee that project revenues will always be at or above a floor level in return for consumers benefiting from revenues above a cap level.

Ofgem’s assessment has given them confidence that in respect of FAB there are likely to be significant net benefits for GB consumers. Ofgem is consulting on this minded-to position prior to a final decision in summer 2015.

The decision in Summer 2015 will be a key milestone for the project which requires a cap and floor regime for investment to proceed.