SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) have officially commenced construction on the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2), a £4.3 billion subsea high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project connecting Scotland and England. The 2GW subsea cable will run 436 km beneath the sea from Peterhead, Scotland, to Fraisthorpe Sands on the East Yorkshire coast, and extend 68 km underground to a new HVDC converter station at Drax, Yorkshire.
The project, which aims to be operational by 2029, will help support the UK’s transition to a net-zero economy by facilitating the transmission of renewable energy across regions. Representatives from National Grid, Prysmian (the HVDC cable supplier), and Hitachi Energy and BAM (supplying the converter stations) marked the groundbreaking ceremony.
The project is expected to create hundreds of local jobs in Yorkshire during peak construction. Ofgem director general Akshay Kaul emphasized the significance of EGL2, noting that it is Britain’s largest electricity transmission project and a key component in securing a clean energy future. EGL2 is the first project to complete Ofgem’s fast-track process, which aims to accelerate the connection of renewable energy to consumers.
In a related development, SSEN Transmission also finalized contracts for the construction of a 220kV subsea link between Orkney and Caithness, Scotland, in September 2024.