A joint venture between SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission intends to transfer renewable power generated in the north of Scotland to Eastern England through 680km of buried onshore and subsea cables.

EGL3 is the UK’s largest proposed HVDC transmission project and forms part of SSEN Transmission’s £20bn investment to upgrade the electricity network in the north of Scotland to unlock the country’s renewable energy resources.

It is one of four planned High Voltage Direct Current link lines planned along the east coast of Britain.

EGL1 and EGL2 have already been consented and are moving towards construction, and EGL3 and EGL4 are in the development and assessment stage.

Although EGL3 and EGL4 are independent of one another, due to their common connection point in England, at the proposed new Walpole substation, they will be developed in parallel.

Whilst EGL3 will be largely offshore, onshore infrastructure such as converter stations and substations as well as underground cables will be required to connect the systems to the areas where the electricity is required.

Ricky Saez, SSEN Transmission’s EGL programme director, said that securing the supply chain at an early stage would put the project in a strong position to be delivered on time and in budget, subject to final approval being granted.  

“We’re delighted to begin the tender process for our proposed Eastern Green Link 3 project, which is a major part of our ambition to deliver clean energy to demand centres around the UK in support of national net zero ambitions.

“This marks progress in securing the supply chain on this important project, and while the hard work is only just beginning, I’d like to pay tribute to the remarkable effort made by our own staff as well as our delivery partners National Grid in getting us to this stage.

“We look forward to making an announcement on our preferred bidders to provide cable and converter station capacity in the months ahead.”

The project is scheduled for delivery by 2033.