CGEE ALSTHOM

CGEE Alsthom designed, manufactured and built the Les Mandarins HVDC converter station at Bonningues-lès-Calais on the French side of the IFA1 (IFA 2000) interconnector. Commissioned between 1985 and 1986, this thyristor-based station forms the French terminal of the 2,000 MW, ±270 kV link, providing conversion between the French AC grid and the HVDC submarine and underground cables. CGEE Alsthom’s scope covered supply and construction of the converter equipment, including valves, transformers, smoothing reactors and reactive power filters, delivering a complete HVDC converter station for cross‑Channel power exchange.