U.K. officials approved construction of a $5.5 billion mostly underwater transmission line to send power generated by offshore wind from northeast Scotland to northern England — the largest project of its kind type in the country and the first of many fast-track electricity links planned with the aim of decarbonising its electricity system.
Work on the roughly 275-mile-long, 2GW Eastern Green Link 2 will begin this year and become operational in 2029, with about 40 miles to be buried underground.
Italy-based Prysmian Group will supply and install the cable, while a joint venture between Hitachi Energy and BAM will deliver converter stations at each end of the link. The project is owned by the joint venture Eastern Green Link 2 Ltd. of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission of England.
Map courtesy of Eastern Green Link 2 Ltd.The line is the first of 26 projects under the UK’s accelerated strategic transmission investment framework which can cut approval times by up to two years, said Jonathan Brearley, director general of the UK Gas Markets Office and electricity. But fast tracking “doesn’t mean blank checks for developers because we can step in and make financial adjustments,” he said. The government unit claims to have saved $100 million in upfront costs for the line’s developer.
With the project agreement signed, “we now look forward to working with our partners … on future projects, including the proposed [2-GW] Eastern Green Link 3,” said Sandy Mactaggart, Scotland and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission Director.
Ongoing work to develop a supply chain for the project will see the proposed line send power further down Britain’s east coast via a 340-mile submarine link.
