Surveys to start in July at UK’s $3 billion subsea electricity superhighway

Geotechnical surveys are scheduled to begin in July at the Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) subsea electricity superhighway that will link the south-east of Scotland with the north-east of England.

The 2 GW EGL1 HVDC multi-directional cable is being developed by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and SP Transmission, part of SP Energy Networks, between the Torness area in East Lothian, Scotland, and Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England, set to transport green electricity for two million homes along over 190 kilometers of predominantly undersea cable.

The geotechnical survey works in English waters will start on approximately July 1 and are expected to be completed by July 31, weather dependent.

Managed by Italian cabling giant Prysmian, the works will be carried out by subcontractor HDI using the Sandpiper barge.

The £2.5 billion (over $3.1 billion) project was given the green light by UK energy market regulator Ofgem last year, while construction on EGL1 began this February. It was published in April that Ofgem was considering whether to grant a penalty exemption for the joint venture (JV) developing EGL1 due to a 16-month delay said to be caused by supply chain constraints.

A total of four 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.

In May, the UK National Grid and SSEN Transmission set into motion the first steps for the development of Eastern Green Link (EGL5) by launching a public consultation.