National Grid’s profits from its French interconnector fell 41 per cent from £123m in 2015 to £72m in 2016, the company said in its annual results announced today. The company said this was driven by lower power price differentials between the two countries, after a particularly high differential had raised profits in 2015.
National Grid said it had made significant progress during the year on its Nemo Link interconnector with Belgium and its North Sea Link with Norway, which are due to be operational in 2019 and 2022 respectively. In November 2016, the board approved a new 230 kilometre IFA2 interconnector. The 1.0 GW subsea cable will be developed with RTE and connect Hampshire in the UK and Normandy in France. The link is expected to be operational in 2020, with construction starting in early 2018.
National Grid’s chief executive, John Pettigrew, said: “Last year was an important year for National Grid. We invested record capex of £4.5 billion delivering a safe and reliable service for customers. Our focus on efficiency has also generated £460 million of savings for customers in the first half of the 8 year RIIO framework. We made significant progress in the year, with the successful completion of the UK Gas Distribution transaction, a good outcome on the rate filings in the US and a positive conclusion to important regulatory reviews in the UK.”
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