Plans for an electricity “superhighway” between Scotland and the UK have moved a step closer to reality, following approval of the scheme’s marine licence.
The proposed Eastern Green Link 2 project has been granted the licence by Marine Scotland, paving the way for construction.
The link, which will be delivered in partnership by SSEN Transmission with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), will see the creation of a 2GW subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax, Yorkshire in England.
Marine Scotland’s approval of this licence applies to the 150km stretch of cable that sits within Scottish waters. The licence gives permission to install infrastructure within a 500 metre-wide defined corridor of the seabed from where the proposed cable makes landfall at Peterhead, to the Scottish-English maritime border.
Project director Ricky Saez said: “Getting to this point wouldn’t have been possible without invaluable support from consultants who have provided expert environmental, technical and specialist advice, and securing our marine licence is testament to the years of work – between the respective Transmission Operators, a first joint development of its kind that has had SSEN Transmission involvement – which has gone into developing the project so far.
“We believe our marine licence submission achieved the best possible balance between environmental considerations and the need for the project, and our plans ensure that we’re doing everything we can to limit our impact on the surrounding sensitivities in the subsea environment.
“We’re now looking forward to working with the supply chain to conclude our tender event, and secure equipment capacity, before progressing our project assessment to determination with Ofgem later this year.”
Licensed activities are expected to commence in 2025, to achieve the targeted energisation date of 2029.
A second application has been submitted for another electricity “superhighway” from the Torness area in East Lothian, to Hawthorn Pit, in County Durham.
The two links are estimated to cost £3.4 billion in total, making the project the largest electricity transmission investment in Britain’s recent history.
In total, there are plans for four such connections along the east coast of Britain – each with a capacity of 2GW.