What happened

A major fire at the Sellindge converter station in Kent forced the IFA1 electricity interconnector between Britain and France completely offline. One 1,000 MW bipole returned in late October 2021, while extensive replacement work was required on the damaged bipole and constrained cross-Channel capacity into 2022. No evidence reviewed indicates deliberate sabotage, so this is recorded as an accidental infrastructure fire rather than an attack.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.