Christian Prantl, Palfinger, on its ‘European Project of Common interest’

18 October 2021

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Following the news that Palfinger partnered with GOS Tools to install a high-voltage cable travelling through the Channel Tunnelrecently, Hoist decided to catch up with Christian Prantl, head of product division railway, Palfinger to find out more about the project, which is being labelled as a ‘European Project of Common Interest’, by the European Commission.

The power cable is being laid through the tunnel, securing power supply to and from Great Britain and France and Palfinger has supplied its scissor lift platforms to complete the intallation. 

Here,Prantl, tells us more about the custom-madePA1500 scissor lift platform, which has a safe working load of 1.5 tons and can work at an inclination of up to 10° when fully laden.

The basket is six meters long, and the width is adjustable from 2.9 to 4.5 meters, giving a maximum working space of nearly 30 m².

There are two converter stations in Folkestone (UK) and in Peuplingues (France) and 50km of cable was installed in the North Tunnel between January and May 2021, with transmission of electricity between the French (RTE) and UK (National Grid) networks expected to become operational service in mid-2022. 

The ElecLink project aims to build, install and operate an electricity interconnector between the United Kingdom and France, by installing two direct current cables inside the Channel Tunnel. These two cables will enable the electricity produced, on either side of the Channel, to circulate between the two countries as needed. The new interconnector ElecLink is a subsidiary wholly- owned by Getlink. i

The future interconnector will enable to: increase by 50% the bidirectional exchange capacity between the United Kingdom and France; benefit from a 25-year exemption from certain European regulations; optimise the allocation of installed generation capacity, including renewable energy sources, across both countries; secure affordable electricity supplies to consumers and play a key societal role by enhancing the integration of European power markets.  

The platform’s modular construction means it can be installed on a wide variety of vehicles. By engaging synchronous operation mode, every movement of two scissor lift platforms mounted one behind the other can be steered simultaneously using a remote control. 

Apart from the PA1500 platforms, the order also included two PA 200 platforms, two PKR 800 railway cranes, six PR 220 cranes incl. BB 29 and BB 49 baskets, and other equipment with a total value of several million euros.