Survey activities next for Scottish subsea cable links

Marine survey activities are scheduled to start this month for two Eastern Green Link projects in Scotland.

Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission are delivering the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL 2) project, while Scottish & Southern Electricity Transmission (SHET) and National Grid Electricity Transmission are delivering the Eastern Green Link 3 (EGL 3) project.

GeoXYZ is in charge of performing the marine survey activities for EGL 2, which are planned to commence at Sandford Bay, Peterhead, on 23 July.

Next Geosolutions will deliver the works for EGL 3, due to commence around 7 August, with completion expected by around 13 September, subject to weather.

The EGL links are said to form part of a series of planned electricity grid reinforcements targeted at increasing the capability of the existing UK transmission network to facilitate increased flows of planned renewable generation in the North to demand centers to the South, supporting the ambitions of enabling 50 GW offshore wind generation by 2030 and achieving a net zero economy by 2050.

Italian cabling giant Prysmian was recently selected as the exclusive preferred bidder for EGL 2 and EGL 1.

SSEN Transmission secured a marine license from Marine Scotland for EGL 2 in May. The 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.