National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission have formally established their joint venture to build a 525kV Scotland-England subsea transmission cable.
The ‘Eastern Green Link 2’ (EGL2) project will install a 525kV, 2GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable between Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England in the “single largest electricity transmission project ever” in the UK.
The joint venture was formally established in an official ceremony in London this week following nine months of work from project teams at both companies.
Dubbed to provide a “East Coast Sunsea Electricity Superhighway”, EGL2 received its Marine Licence in May this year and will form part of the National Grid’s ‘Great Grid Upgrade’ essential transmission infrastructure required for net zero.
Once final approval is granted from Ofgem, work on the EGL2 is expected to commence in 2024, with a targeted operational date of 2029.
“The government ambition of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 demands unprecedented scale and complexity of action. It’s essential that we find new ways to work and unite as a sector to rise to this challenge and this joint venture with SSEN is a prime example,” said Carl Trowell, president of UK strategic infrastructure at National Grid.
“Eastern Green Link 2 is part of our Great Grid Upgrade, the largest overhaul of the grid in generations. This new infrastructure will connect more clean, renewable energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed, helping contribute to lower energy bills over the long-term and make the UK’s energy more self-sufficient.”
Maz Alkirwi, SSEN Transmission’s finance director, added: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve signed our first Joint Venture agreement with National Grid to deliver EGL2. Connecting the North of Scotland down to Northern England and transporting renewable power to communities across the country is crucial in delivering government targets for tackling climate change.
“It’s a massive credit to the teams at SSEN Transmission and NGET for getting us to this big milestone.
“It’s an important moment in a major investment in critical national infrastructure and we’re looking forward to working with National Grid on its delivery.”
