Consent granted for high voltage EGL2 transmission project

Known as Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2), the project has been jointly developed by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission (SSENT)  and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). Once operational towards the end of this decade, the new connection will be the longest HVDC cable in the UK, capable of delivering power to around two million homes.

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.

Due to the expansive nature of the project, there were four distinct planning elements that needed to be considered, by a multitude of authorities. Consent for a converter station and new pylon compound in Peterhead was granted by Aberdeenshire Council in May 2022. Marine licences for the subsea cable were then issued by both the Marine Management Organisation and Marine Scotland earlier this year.