£3.4 billion electricity 'superhighway' connecting Scotland and England will cut bills and help save planet

An electricity “superhighway” that will connect Scotland and England with the promise of lower consumer bills has been given the green light.

Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, said a £2 billion funding package had now been awarded to build the new subsea and underground cable - stretching to more than 120 miles - which will “help boost energy security, cut bills and hit government green targets”.

The high voltage electricity superhighway will be capable of carrying some two gigawatts of wind generated electricity between Torness in East Lothian and Hawthorn Pit, County Durham. A gigawatt is equivalent to one billion watts, and one gigawatt hour (GWh) of electricity is enough to power one million homes for one hour.

The project will help supply power generated by new offshore wind farm developments.

The bulk of the 196-kilometre (121.8-mile) cable will be under the North Sea, with the remaining stretch underground linking it to substations and converter stations in Scotland and England.

Ofgem said the project would reduce Britain’s reliance on “volatile” international gas markets by further harnessing the power of homegrown North Sea wind. A recent report suggested that the project will deliver annual savings of more than £870 million by reducing the need to compensate UK 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, the regulator noted.

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.

“However streamlining our process does not mean we’ve handed a blank cheque to the developers,” she added. “We’ve built in safeguards which mean we can step in where needed to ensure they deliver maximum efficiency and benefit to customers.”

The Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) is the second of 26 “critical energy” projects, worth an estimated £20bn to successfully complete Ofgem's new fast track “accelerated strategic transmission investment” framework.

Ofgem added that as part of its mission to “rapidly upgrade the energy system with a minimum cost to customers”, it had identified more than £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.

Last month, a major milestone was officially reached on the Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) section of the project, with groundworks officially starting on the transmission cable that will extend from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in Yorkshire. Once completed, the overall £3.4bn development will be the UK’s single biggest electricity transmission project.

'Historic' milestone for Scotland's £3.4bn electricity 'superhighway' is reached