Energy regulator Ofgem has approved a £3.4 billion electricity “superhighway” between Scotland and England in the biggest single investment for electricity transmission infrastructure in Britain.
The 500km (311-mile) Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project will stretch from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire and will transport vast amounts of renewable energy between Scotland and England.
The joint venture between Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid is part of a push to modernise the electricity grid to deal with greater demands placed on it by the green transition.
The new network capacity from the power line will carry enough renewable electricity to power two million homes, Ofgem said, describing it as a “superhighway”.
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
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem
Chief executive Jonathan Brearley 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.”
The massive new interconnector cable will be able to move two gigawatts of electricity between Scotland and England, partly enabling the latter to benefit from offshore wind energy generated by offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
Ofgem said it is pushing to fast-track the approvals process for power projects to help the UK meet its 2030 net zero carbon emissions target.
The announcement also comes after Labour said it would ease planning regulations, as part of a bid to get more homes and power infrastructure-related schemes built in the coming years.
Most of the 500km (311-mile) cable will be laid under the North Sea, while the rest will be underground onshore, Ofgem said.
Construction is planned to start later this year, with the new connection due to be operational by 2029.
The regulator also provisionally gave the green light to a £295 million funding package for a set of upgrades to the electricity grid in Yorkshire.
The project, which is run by National Grid, will involve building new substations and overhead lines to improve networks in the North East of England.