GEOxyz about to kick off surveys at fourth Eastern Green Link

Marine environmental surveys and geotechnical surveys are scheduled to begin next month for the fourth high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical link that is part of the UK’s plans to enhance the electricity network.

GEOxyz will carry out the surveys for the Eastern Green Link 4 (EGL4) project using the Geo Ocean III and Geo Ocean IX vessels.

Work is expected to commence in early June and be completed by late August.

EGL4 is an HVDC electricity transmission interconnector that will connect Fife in Scotland with Norfolk in England, which will be able to transmit up to 2 GW of clean, renewable energy, enough to power around 1.5 million homes.

The link will consist of a 500-kilometer subsea HVDC cable between Kinghorn, Fife, and South Humber, Lincolnshire, a 14-kilometer underground cable from Kinghorn to a new converter station at Westfield, near Ballingry, Fife, as well as a 100-kilometer underground cable from South Humber to a new converter station near Walpole, Norfolk.

EGL1 and EGL2 have already been consented and are moving towards construction, and EGL3 and EGL4 are in the development and assessment stage. Although EGL3 and EGL4 are independent of one another, due to their ultimate common connection point in England, the proposed new Walpole substation, they will be developed in parallel.

The EGL links form part of planned electricity grid reinforcements to boost the capability of the existing UK transmission network and facilitate increased flows of planned renewable generation in the North to demand centers to the South, supporting the ambition of enabling 50 GW of offshore wind generation by 2030 and achieving a net-zero economy by 2050.

The projects are being developed in partnership between ScottishPower Energy Networks and National Grid Electricity Transmission.

Western Link, a similar project linking Hunterston on the west coast of Scotland with Connahs Quay in North Wales, is already in operation.