Joe Biden calls Scott Morrison 'that fella Down Under' during AUKUS nuclear submarine announcement

It's one of the most significant strategic and defence moves in decades, cementing Australia's alliance with the US and the UK for years to come.

But as Prime Minister Scott Morrison joined the UK's leader Boris Johnson and Joe Biden for a virtual announcement, the US President raised a few eyebrows in Australia.

"Thank you Boris," he said to the UK Prime Minister who had dialled in via video from London.

Then Mr Biden turned to the other screen showing Mr Morrison who had joined from Canberra.

'And I want to thank that, uh, fellow Down Under," he said.

The Sellindge converter station was built by GEC and the Les Mandarins converter station was built by CGE Alstom.

Fire blazing at IFA1 interconnector leaves GB grid facing even tighter market and higher prices

A fire at National Grid's IFA1 interconnector site in Sellindge is to see power prices once again spike in the UK as 1GW of capacity drops off the system. The event comes during a difficult time for the UK power market, which is already experiencing intense price pressures.

Grid ESO confirmed to Currents  that it currently has a sufficient buffer of spare capacity to operate the electricity system securely over this evening's peak demand period, EnAppSys warned that the loss of the 2GW IFA1 interconnector - which links the UK with France - will see the market become even tighter. IFA1 has been in operation since 1986, providing a subsea electricity link between the two nations.

While IFA1 was only at half capacity, it was due to return to full import at the weekend, and could see an extended outage as a result of the fire, according to EnAppSys.

EnAppSys' data shows that in the year to date overall average power prices have been over double the average price in 2019-2020, and in the last two weeks daily average prices have been eight times the average in 2019.

There is more ... which country is making all the profit?

Interconnexion France-Angleterre 2 (IFA2), electricity interconnector linking the UK and France in full flow | Jan. 25, 2021 |

'Sapere aude'

ElecLink: A merchant transmission investment optimising collective value

ElecLink is an electricity interconnector between France and Great Britain, going through the Channel Tunnel, which is expected to be commissioned in 2020. It will generate a capacity of 1,000 MW, increasing the current interconnection exchange capacity by +50% between France and Great Britain.

While almost all other European interconnectors are regulated, ElecLink is a merchant transmission investment, partially exempted from some regulatory requirements.