“Frustration is part of our job“. Head of New Aquitaine and Vendée of the Department of Underwater and Underwater Archaeological Research (Drassm), an organization dependent on the Ministry of Culture, Sybil Thiebaud and his team did not make any sensational discoveries during the excavation phase launched in the Bay of Biscay in September 2022. As with any large-scale underwater project, the Drassm had been commissioned to ensure that no remains were found on the route of the future interconnection line electricity that will connect France and Spain in the years to come.
After a first phase carried out in the spring, with several detection instruments, 30 targets likely to present archaeological potential had been identified. On board the exploration vessel, the “André-Malraux”, a second phase has just been carried out, with in-depth expertise of these identified targets. Using a latest-generation underwater robot, capable of filming the sites in ultra-high definition and modeling them in 3D, the DRASSM experts assessed the archaeological potential of the remains discovered (nature, dimensions, state of conservation).
– Drassm
– Drassm
Ultimately, “on 30 targets, we found nothing archaeological“, says Sybil Thiebaud. “_We found a lot of fishing gear, which must have been lost at sea, so-called anthropogenic remains, but nothing archaeological. The scientist in me is always disappointed when I don’t find a wreck, a lone cannon, or an anchor._. But the objective was to make sure that no vestige was going to be destroyed! I return home with the feeling of the mission accomplished: there will be no destruction of remains during the developments carried out by RTE“.
– Drassm
The Electricity Transmission Network indeed needed the green light from the Drassm to carry out the work for this France-Spain electrical interconnection. With a capacity of 2 x 1000 MW, the electricity interconnection project between France and Spain “Gulf of Biscay”, supported by RTE and its Spanish counterpart REE (Red Eléctrica de España), will make it possible to double electricity exchanges between the two countries. Eventually, nearly 5 million households will be able to be supplied via cross-border lines.
About 400 km long, the electrical interconnection between France and Spain “Gulf of Biscay” will be buried in the ground or at the bottom of the ocean, in order to connect the Cubnezais electrical substation (near Bordeaux) to that of Gatika (near Bilbao). A public inquiry into the project is due to take place at the end of 2022.