REG - OFGEM - New electricity superhighway gets the green light

National GridAnnouncement

15/11/2024 08:00

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RNS Number : 3290M  OFGEM  15 November 2024

Race for clean power surges ahead as new electricity superhighway gets the
green light

 

·      £2billion subsea cable will help power up to 2million homes with
homegrown wind power

·      Project will help drive down consumer bills with estimated annual
savings of £870m on costs

·      Project approved through fast-track new Ofgem process and will
play a key role in achieving the Government's 2030 Clean Power goal

 

A £2billion funding package has today (Friday 15 November) been awarded to
build a proposed new subsea and underground 196km cable which will help boost
energy security, cut bills and hit Government green targets.

 

Flagged by the  National Energy System Operator (NESO)
(https://www.neso.energy/publications/clean-power-2030) as an essential
element in achieving the Government's Clean Power 2030 ambition, Eastern Green
Link 1 (EGL1) is a high voltage electricity superhighway able to transport
2GW* of homegrown wind generated electricity between Torness, East Lothian,
and Hawthorn Pit, County Durham. Most of the 196km cable will be under the
North Sea, with the remaining 20km of cables underground linking the cable to
substations and converter stations in Scotland and England.

 

The project will reduce Great Britain's reliance on volatile international gas
markets by further harnessing the power of homegrown North Sea wind. NESO's
recent Clean Power 2030 Report
(https://www.neso.energy/publications/clean-power-2030) has also shown that
the project will deliver annual saving of over £870m by reducing the need to
compensate British wind generators who are currently asked to turn off
production, during times of high wind, due to lack of grid capacity. This in
turn will help drive down consumer bills.

 

As part of its mission to rapidly upgrade the energy system with a minimum
cost to customers, Ofgem has identified over £43m of savings which have been
cut from the project costs without impacting delivery or quality. 
Communities that host the infrastructure in Scotland and North-East England
are also set to benefit from a £7.9m social value and community benefit
fund.

 

Beatrice Filkin, Ofgem Director of Major Projects, said:  "Today's
announcement takes us another step closer to achieving Great Britain's 2030
Clean Power ambitions. It means customers can reap the benefits of abundant
homegrown wind faster, while also being increasingly shielded from volatile
imported gas prices.

 

"Our fast-track process provides developers with access to some initial
upfront funding from the projected budget, so they can secure the supply chain
commitments needed to secure the sought-after materials to deliver this
project as soon as possible."

 

She added: "However streamlining our process does not mean we've handed a
blank cheque to the developers. We've built in safeguards which mean we can
step in where needed to ensure they deliver maximum efficiency and benefit to
customers."

 

EGL1 is the second of 26 critical energy projects, worth an estimated
£20billion to successfully complete Ofgem's new fast track Accelerated
Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework. ASTI
(https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/decision/decision-accelerating-onshore-electricity-transmission-investment)
 speeds up the funding process for projects by up to two years, allowing
electricity generated by offshore wind to be delivered to British customers
sooner.

 

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.

 

NESO's Clean Power 2030

In November 2024, the National Energy System Operator (NESO) published its
Clean Power 2030 Report
(https://www.neso.energy/publications/clean-power-2030) which outlined
pathways for how Great Britain could reach a clean power system by 2030.

The networks element of this plan includes Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) as one
of the key projects that is crucial to delivering the Government's net zero
ambitions.

Ofgem is keen to support delivery of the 2030 clean power goal and is working
with government ahead of it publishing its full plan in December.

For further detail on the plan see the relevant section of the NESO website:
Clean Power 2030 Report
(https://www.neso.energy/publications/clean-power-2030) , for more detail on
the network element of the NESO report, please refer to the Networks Annex
(https://www.neso.energy/document/346796/download)

 

Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) is a planned two-gigawatt (GW) high voltage
direct current (HVDC) multi directional subsea cable to be built between the
Torness area in East Lothian, Scotland and Hawthorn Pit in County Durham,
England. 

This 196km electricity would transport homegrown energy from North Sea
windfarms and power to around two million homes.  The bulk of the cable
(176km) would be subsea with the remaining 20km of cable undergrounded
onshore, with substations and converter stations at either end, able to feed
electricity into the transmission network. 

The project is being developed by a partnership between SP Energy Networks
(https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/proposed-anglo-scottish-electricity-superhighway-power-millions-homes-first-progress-through-fast-track-ofgem-process)
 and National Grid Electricity Transmission.
(https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/proposed-anglo-scottish-electricity-superhighway-power-millions-homes-first-progress-through-fast-track-ofgem-process)
 

National Grid has published research
(https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/126256/download) that found that there
will be an estimated 400,000 job opportunities for a net zero energy workforce
by 2050, including around 150,000 jobs  download
(https://www.nationalgrid.com/document/126256/download) anticipated in
Scotland and the North of England, some of which are expected to support the
delivering of Eastern Green Link 1 and Eastern Green Link 2
(https://www.easterngreenlink2.co.uk/)

For more information on Eastern Green Link 1 including the social value and
community benefit fund please contact the project team, contact details can be
found  here (https://www.easterngreenlink1.co.uk/contact-us)

 

Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) 

 

Delivering Net Zero requires a huge amount of new infrastructure. The
Government's ambition is to build 50GW of offshore wind to be constructed by
2030.  

This new infrastructure is needed to carry electricity from offshore sites to
homes and businesses, but we need it to be built at speed to meet Government's
target. 

The Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework has been
designed to fast track strategically important energy transmission
projects.  

It streamlines the onshore transmission regulatory approval process and
ensures robust consumer protection to allow network infrastructure to be built
faster, accelerating build times by up to two years and unlocking capital
investment to meet the Government's target of 50GW of offshore wind capacity
by 2030 and a decarbonised power grid by 2035. 

A total of 26 projects have been identified by Ofgem for progression under the
ASTI process. 

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 ASTI decision document: Decision on
accelerating onshore electricity transmission investment
(https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-release/proposed-anglo-scottish-electricity-superhighway-power-millions-homes-first-progress-through-fast-track-ofgem-process)
.

 

To view the decision documents, go to
 https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/decision/eastern-green-link-1-project-assessment
(https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/decision/eastern-green-link-1-project-assessment)

 

 

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