Proposed Anglo-Scottish electricity superhighway is first to clear final fast-track funding hurdle

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Transmission Network

Ofgem’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework is fast-tracking 26 major connection projects which will boost grid capacity and could deliver estimated savings of £1.5 billion. 

A £3.4 billion funding package has been awarded to build a proposed new subsea and underground 500km cable between Scotland and Yorkshire which could power up to 2million homes.

Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is the first of 26 projects to complete a fast-track process to secure funding through Ofgem’s new ASTI framework. ASTI accelerates the funding process by up to two years, allowing electricity generated by offshore wind to be delivered to British consumers sooner.

The projects delivered via Ofgem’s ASTI programme are a vital part of the work to upgrade the energy system and allow more renewable energy to be brought onto the grid. This will help to deliver Government’s goal of clean power by 2030 and reduce our reliance on volatile international gas markets.

EGL2 will deliver a 2GW* high voltage electricity ‘superhighway’ cable link between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax in North Yorkshire, which will help harness the potential of British offshore wind power. Most of the cable (around 436km) will be under the North Sea with the remaining 70km buried underground onshore. Two converter stations, one at each end of the cable, are planned to help feed the electricity transported by the cable into the grid and from there onto consumers.  

As part of its mission to upgrade the energy system at least possible cost to customers, Ofgem scrutinised the developers’ proposal and identified over £79m of savings which have been cut from the project costs without impacting delivery or quality. 

ASTI projects will not only help provide millions of consumers with access to homegrown wind energy, but by boosting grid capacity they will deliver an estimated £1.5billion of savings by reducing the need to compensate generators who are currently asked to turn off production, during times of high wind, due to lack of grid capacity.

Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem CEO, said: 

“Ofgem is fully committed to supporting the government to meet its aims of getting clean power by 2030. Today's announcement is a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place to speed up network regulation to achieve its aim. 

“Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) accelerates approval times for projects such as Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) by up to two years. However, streamlining the process does not mean blank cheques for developers as we are able to step in and make financial adjustments to maximise efficiency and consumer benefit.” 

Work on the project is expected to begin later this year and to be complete by 2029.

Ofgem has also published updates on the following ASTI projects:

Yorkshire Green

Ofgem has announced a proposed funding allowance of £294.8m for another project in its ASTI cohort, the Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement (GREEN) project. The project involves a proposed upgrade to the local electricity network to help transport energy generated by Scottish and North Sea windfarms to consumers. Plans include building new substations, underground cables, over 7km of overhead lines and cable sealing end compounds (where underground cables meet overhead lines). Ofgem’s proposed funding allowance are now subject to consultation with the project currently slated to be operational by 2027. 

North London Reinforcement Project and Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHET) Bulk Submission 

The ASTI framework enables ASTI project developers to apply for Early Construction Funding (ECF). These allow project developers to apply for up to 20 per cent of total forecast project costs to fund early construction activities including land purchases, early procurement purchases and preparatory works, such as ground preparation.

Ofgem has today approved ECF requests for:

  • The North London Reinforcement Project a project which involves replacing existing 275kV overhead lines with higher voltage 400kV overhead line from Pelham substation, Hertfordshire to Waltham Cross substation in Epping Forest, through Enfield, and then to Tottenham substation in Haringey. The project also involves associated works to the substations at Pelham, Waltham Cross, Brimsdown, Tottenham and Hackney
  • SHET bulk submission for six onshore and two offshore projects to boost electricity transmission capacity to enable more clean energy to be transported to where it's needed

Notes to editors  

*A gigawatt (GW) is equivalent to one billion watts, and one gigawatt hour (GWh) of electricity is enough to power one million homes for one hour.

ASTI  

Delivering clean energy requires a huge amount of new infrastructure, which must be built at pace to meet Government clean energy targets.

The ASTI framework has been designed to fast track the onshore transmission regulatory funding approval process for the transmission infrastructure needed to hit clean energy targets. 

The framework was developed and introduced in response to the previous Government’s policy ambition to connect up to 50GW of offshore generation by 2030, which was set out in the British Energy Security Strategy (published in April 2022). 

A total of 26 projects have been identified by Ofgem for progression under the ASTI process, which is designed to help ensure Transmission Operators hit 2030 offshore wind connection goals. 

If all ASTI projects are delivered by their optimal delivery dates, we expect consumers will see a net benefit of up to £2.1bn in terms of reduced constraint costs and carbon savings. However, this consumer benefit is contingent upon timely project delivery.  

For further detail please see the decision on accelerating onshore electricity transmission investment.

EGL2

EGL2 proposes building an ‘electricity superhighway’ connection linking the Scottish and English transmission networks from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland to Drax in North Yorkshire, England. It consists of around 436km of 2GW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) submarine cable laid under the North Sea and around 70km of onshore cable buried underground. Two converter stations are needed at each end of the cable to enable the electricity to be fed into the onshore transmission network required to transform the electricity to alternating current (AC) as used on onshore network.  

The project is being jointly developed by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission (SSENT) and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) with construction planned to start in 2024, with the new connection due to be operational by 2029. 

For more on the decision see the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project assessment decision.

For more on the project visit Eastern Green Link 2.

Ofgem will also publish a statutory consultation on the proposed modifications to the Transmission Operator (TO) licence conditions that will formalise the decision in the coming weeks. 

Yorkshire Green 

Yorkshire GREEN is an National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) proposed electricity transmission network upgrade to manage increasing power flows between the North and South of England. 

The plans include a new substation extension at Monk Fryston, a new substation at Overton with a new overhead line connection of approximately 7km to the existing network. 

Ofgem has launched a consultation on its proposed funding for the project for more details on the consultation and how to give feedback visit the Yorkshire GREEN Project Assessment consultation.

For more on the project visit Yorkshire GREEN for NGET.

North London Reinforcement Project

The North London Reinforcement Project is an NGET project to replace an existing 275kV overhead line with a 400kV overhead line from Pelham substation, Hertfordshire to Waltham Cross substation in Epping Forest, through Enfield, and then to Tottenham substation in Haringey. There will also be associated works to the substations at Pelham, Waltham Cross, Brimsdown, Tottenham and Hackney. The project is due for completion in 2028 and will boost network capacity and enable more energy to be transported via the network to where it is needed.

For more on the decision see North London (HWUP) - decision on Early Construction Funding and corresponding modification to Special Condition 3.41 of NGET’s electricity transmission licence.

For more on the project visit North London Reinforcement Project for NGET.

SHET Bulk Submission

SHET is planning to deliver six onshore reinforcement projects and two offshore projects to boost electricity transmission capacity to enable more clean energy to be transported to where it's needed. 

The project includes the following onshore elements: Beauly to Loch Buidhe 400kV Reinforcement; Loch Buidhe to Spittal 400kV Reinforcement; Beauly to Blackhillock 400kV Double Circuit; Blackhillock and Peterhead 400kV Double Circuit; Beauly to Denny 275kV Circuit to 400kV; East Coast Onshore 400kV Phase 2 reinforcement.

And the following offshore elements: Spittal to Peterhead 2GW HVDC Subsea link and Arnish to Beauly (Western Isles) HVDC link. For more on the projects visit SSEN Transmission. 

For more on the decision, go to Eight Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission projects - Early Construction Funding and licence decision. 

For more on the projects visit SSEN Transmission.

Ofgem has also launched consultations on ECF requests for the following ASTI projects:

  • The North West Wales (NWW) is a NGET reinforcement project which will boost electricity transmission capacity to connect consumers in the northwest of Wales to a combined total of 5.48 GW of offshore generation, including the new 700MW Awel Y Mor Offshore Wind Farm (an extension to the existing Gwynt Y Mor windfarm)

To view the consultation, go to North West Wales (PTC1 and PTNO) - Early Construction Funding and modification to the special condition 3.41 of the electricity transmission licence.

For more on the project visit National Grid Electricity Transmission.

  • Norwich to Tilbury project is an NGET project to upgrade to the local electricity transmission network, which is needed to connect to new generation including offshore wind farms. The project involves building 184km of overhead lines between Norwich and Tilbury as well as a new substation and is currently due to start construction in 2027 

To view the consultation, go to Norwich Tilbury - Early Construction Funding consultation. 

For more on the project visit Norwich to Tilbury project for NGET.

  • Grain to Tilbury is an NGET project to enable the transmission of more clean energy. It involves building a 2.2km tunnel under the Thames Estuary which will replace an existing tunnel built in the 1960s and is currently scheduled for completion in 2028

To view the consultation, go to TKRE - Early Construction Funding and proposed modification to the special conditions of the electricity transmission licence.

For more on the project visit Grain to Tilbury project for NGET.