
Joint venture to build UK’s largest HVDC cable system
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and SSEN Transmission have formed a five year joint venture to build the UK’s longest subsea high voltage DC (HVDC) power system.
The Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project will see the creation of a 525kV, 2GW HVDC link from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England. At 436km, this will be the UK’s single largest electricity transmission project ever although the North Sea Link (NSL) HVDC interconnector is 720km long and the Viking interconnector is 765km long.
New converter stations at either end will connect the HVDC cable into the existing transmission network infrastructure to support the growth of new renewable electricity generation. Nine months of work from projects teams at SSEN Transmission and NGET has seen the venture formally established yesterday. Once final approval from the regulator Ofgem is received, work is expected to start in 2024, with a targeted operational date of 2029.

How the UK’s largest HVDC project will work
National Grid is also part of the Viking 1.4 GW HVDC interconnector which uses cables from Prysmian Powerlink in Italy and NKT HV Cables in Sweden. Prysmian will deliver four of the five cable lots and NKT will deliver the onshore cable lot in Denmark. Siemens is supplying and installing equipment for two converter station sites in Lincolnshire, UK and Revsing, Denmark, with construction expected to be completed by the end of this year.
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“The government ambition of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 demands unprecedented scale and complexity of action. It’s essential that we find new ways to work and unite as a sector to rise to this challenge and this joint venture with SSEN is a prime example,” said Carl Trowell, President of UK Strategic Infrastructure at National Grid.
“Eastern Green Link 2 is part of our Great Grid Upgrade, the largest overhaul of the grid in generations. This new infrastructure will connect more clean, renewable energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed, helping contribute to lower energy bills over the long-term and make the UK’s energy more self-sufficient.
“Connecting the North of Scotland down to Northern England and transporting renewable power to communities across the country is crucial in delivering government targets for tackling climate change,” said Maz Alkirwi, SSEN Transmission’s Finance Director. “It’s an important moment in a major investment in critical national infrastructure and we’re looking forward to working with National Grid on its delivery.”
SSEN Transmission will be investing over £10bn to upgrade the network around key areas, connecting new onshore and offshore renewables generation in the north of Scotland, as part of its ‘Pathway to 2030’ programme, supporting the delivery of Scotland and the UK’s net zero targets. The programme comprises nine significant onshore and subsea projects, including EGL2.
National Grid have launched ‘The Great Grid Upgrade’, the largest overhaul of the grid in generations and a multibillion investment in new electricity transmission projects across England and Wales that is much needed.
This will include three further subsea links between Scotland and England, and proposals in the Humber and East Anglia as well as a further subsea link between Suffolk and Kent.
