Planning consent for a new subsea electricity superhighway between Scotland and England has now been granted by all relevant authorities.
Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is a 525kV, 2GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England, to be delivered as a joint venture between National Grid and SSEN Transmission.
Planning consent has now been granted for all onshore and offshore elements of the project, including new converter stations and onshore and offshore cables.
Once complete, EGL2 will run from a new converter station and landfall point at Sandford Bay, Peterhead, under the North Sea, to a landfall point at Fraisthorpe, on the East Yorkshire coast.
Once onshore in England, it will run underground to a new converter station next to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.
Four planning elements have been considered by local authorities and marine management organisations in England and Scotland.
Planning Permission in Principle was granted by Aberdeenshire Council on 20 May 2022 for the HVDC converter station and on 3 February 2023 for a pylon compound joining the high-voltage underground cable to the overhead line.
Marine licences have been granted by both the Marine Management Organisation and Marine Scotland on 28 July and 5 May 2023 respectively for EGL2’s 436km subsea cable.
Full planning permission was granted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council on 3 May 2023 for the majority of project’s onshore underground cable.
Sarah Sale, EGL2 Deputy Project Director, said: “We are delighted that our plans for the onshore and offshore elements of our project have been approved by all local planning authorities and marine licencing organisations.
“What was particularly pleasing to hear, was the support for the project and its purpose from a number of those planning authorities.”
Construction is expected to begin in 2024, with a targeted operational date of 2029.