After experiencing some failures of the 20 year-old submarine cable part of its 90kV interconnector with France, via Jersey and with growing concerns about its ongoing reliability, Guernsey Electricity decided to invest in early replacement of the submarine cable in 2019.

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A very tight timescale was set for the project, in order to keep island generation costs to a minimum, while the work was undertaken. With the resulting enhancement of the cable reliability, a project was also initiated to renew the existing interconnector protection and control systems, at both ends, to further enhance reliability.

VPS was awarded the design, procurement, fabrication, studies, commissioning and installation contract, which was executed in just over 7 months, from award to final commissioning.

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The following photograph shows the new 90kV protection and control panel suite for the Guernsey end of the interconnector.