OSLO (Reuters) - The Nord Pool power exchange has completed preparations for traders to buy and sell electricity that will flow through a new cable between Britain and France from next year, it said on Wednesday.
The interconnector, a 1-gigawatt (GW) strong high voltage direct current cable called ElecLink, is owned by Channel Tunnel operator Getlink <GETP.PA>, formerly known as Eurotunnel, which runs high-speed trains between Paris, Brussels and London.
Upon its launch in 2020, Nord Pool will provide shipping services to help facilitate the allocation of the electricity that will run through it.
The exchange will be able to accommodate day-ahead auctions for the energy traded through it, it said.
"Α new milestone for Nord Pool in the UK. The 1GW cable will be a welcome addition to the 3GW which Nord Pool already provides services to, as part of the UK's power market coupling arrangements," Nord Pool's director for UK and Ireland Richard Sarti said.
ElecLink will be the first interconnector to use the Channel Tunnel as its route to transfer electricity between Britain and France, will increase security of supply, and is a unique engineering project in itself, he added.
The chief executive of the cable, Steven Moore, said that as a result of Nord Pool's IT infrastructure, ElecLink's capacity would be traded with the wider European market.
Nord Pool operates markets in the Nordic and Baltic regions, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Britain. The exchange offers day-ahead and intraday trading, clearing and settlement to customers.
(Reporting by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Alex Richardson)
