A £2 billion funding package has been awarded for the construction of Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1), a 196 km subsea and underground cable connecting Scotland and the north of England.
The high-voltage electricity superhighway will transport 2 GW of wind-generated electricity between Torness in East Lothian and Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, with a single GWh of electricity being enough to power one million homes for one hour.
Identified by the National Energy System Operator (NESO) as essential for achieving the Government’s Clean Power 2030 ambition, EGL1 aims to boost energy security and reduce reliance on international gas markets by harnessing homegrown North Sea wind power.
NESO’s recent Clean Power 2030 Report indicates that the project will deliver annual savings of over £870 million by reducing the need to compensate British wind generators who are currently asked to curtail production during times of high wind due to grid capacity limitations. This, in turn, is expected to help drive down consumer bills.
The majority of the cable — approximately 176 km — will be laid under the North Sea, with the remaining 20 km installed underground to link the subsea cable to substations and converter stations in Scotland and England. If all goes well, Eastern Green Link 1 should be fully operational by 2029, although that is two years later than initially promised during the consultation phase.
Ofgem has identified over £43 million in cost savings for the project without impacting delivery or quality. Communities hosting the infrastructure in Scotland and North-East England are also set to benefit from a £7.9 million social value and community benefit fund.
Beatrice Filkin, Ofgem Director of Major Projects, commented, “Today’s announcement takes us another step closer to achieving Great Britain’s 2030 Clean Power ambitions. It means customers can reap the benefits of abundant homegrown wind faster, while also being increasingly shielded from volatile imported gas prices.
“Our fast-track process provides developers with access to some initial upfront funding from the projected budget, so they can secure the supply chain commitments needed to secure the sought-after materials to deliver this project as soon as possible.
“However, streamlining our process does not mean we’ve handed a blank cheque to the developers. We’ve built in safeguards which mean we can step in where needed to ensure they deliver maximum efficiency and benefit to customers.”
EGL1 is the second of 26 critical energy projects, worth an estimated £20 billion, to successfully complete Ofgem’s new fast-track Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework. ASTI speeds up the funding process for projects by up to two years, allowing electricity generated by offshore wind to be delivered to British customers sooner.
The first ASTI project to receive funding was Eastern Green Link 2, which was awarded funding in August and has since broken ground.