Refurbishments

Refurbishment Plans

Working together with our partner RTE, we have embarked upon a series of planned refurbishments which will extend the life of IFA by 30 years.

The outages required to deliver the refurbishment activities will be optimised and, where possible, will use future planned outages, but some additional outages will be required.

There are many items of IFA equipment that will be renewed or replaced in a 7 year rolling programme, listed below is an update on some of our major components:

 Converter Transformers

Converter Transformers are critical to the operation of the IFA link. There are 8 in service when IFA is at maximum capacity.

Procurement of new transformers is underway, with 4 units currently being purchased.

New units will incorporate the latest technology to ensure monitoring and longevity into the future.

Static Compensators

Static compensators are a key part of ensuring availability at IFA now and into the future.

Refurbishment involves replacement on a technical like-for-like basis. Design work for this replacement has already started.

AC Switchgear

This equipment, which includes circuit breakers, disconnectors and earth switches connects the converter station to the 400kV system, and allows individual parts of the converter station to be switched off so that maintenance work can be undertaken safely.

Ensuring new equipment is flexible and allows maximum configuration changes without effecting IFA availability is a priority.