The EGL1 project is being developed by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and SP Transmission, part of SP Energy Networks. It will transport electricity between Scotland’s East Lothian and County Durham in the north-east of England.
Under the fast-track process, the project has received from ASTI a provisional £2 billion (€2.33 billion) funding package to deliver the subsea energy superhighway, energy regulator Ofgem said.
The vast majority of the 196-kilometre cable will be under the North Sea, with the remaining 20km running underground to link the cable to substations and converter stations in Torness, East Lothian and Hawthorn Pit, County Durham.
Ofgem said it had identified £43 million worth of cuts in indirect costs from the developer’s proposals, thereby reducing costs for consumers without impacting project delivery or quality. The proposed budget is now undergoing consultation.
The project will also need to secure construction permission under the oversight of the Planning Inspectorate.
ASTI is designed to speed up the delivery of strategic energy projects to allow more electricity generated by offshore wind to reach UK consumers.
It accelerates the project funding process by up to two years, according to Ofgem, by allowing projects critical to the government’s target of 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 to bypass the previous piecemeal, project-by-project approval framework.
EGL1 is the first of 26 critical energy projects, worth an estimated £20 billion, to be fast-tracked under the process.
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