Marine license in place for Scottish subsea electricity superhighway

SSEN Transmission has secured a marine license for its proposed new subsea electricity superhighway along the east coast of Scotland.

The Eastern Green Link 2 project, delivered in partnership with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), will see the creation of a subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax, Yorkshire in England.

With a capacity of 2 GW, the subsea transmission link is set to help alleviate existing constraints on the electricity network, supporting the growth of new renewable electricity generation and progression of further links, creating jobs, and delivering a pathway to net zero emissions targets, SSEN Transmission said.

Marine Scotland’s approval of the license applies to the 150-kilometer stretch of cable that sits within Scottish waters and gives permission to install infrastructure within a 500-meter-wide defined corridor of the seabed from where the proposed cable makes landfall at Peterhead, to the Scottish-English maritime border. 

“We believe our marine licence submission achieved the best possible balance between environmental considerations and the need for the project, and our plans ensure that we’re doing everything we can to limit our impact on the surrounding sensitivities in the subsea environment,” said Ricky Saez, EGL2 Project Director.

“We’re now looking forward to working with the supply chain to conclude our tender event, and secure equipment capacity, before progressing our project assessment to determination with Ofgem later this year.” 

SSEN Transmission and NGET carried out surveys in 2021, which informed environmental appraisal and technical assessment to ensure that the proposed cable route had a minimal environmental impact. The survey results helped to inform initial proposals for the cable, which included designing the project to avoid particularly sensitive national protected areas. 

Licensed activities are expected to commence in 2025 in order to achieve the targeted energization date of 2029.