The Eastern Green Links are a number of planned submarine high voltage direct current power cables from the east coast of Scotland to Northeast England, designed to strengthen the National Grid. The first two links will deliver altogether 4GW of renewable energy from Scottish wind farms to England.
Ofgem stated in 2022 that "At an estimated cost of ã3.4billion for the two links, the Eastern HVDC projects would be the largest electricity transmission investment project in the recent history of Great Britain." They approved the schemes as part of the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment Framework.
In July 2022, Ofgem published its conditional decision on the 'Final needs case' for the Eastern HVDC project, confirming its choice of two separate HVDC links, each rated at 2GW.
Five Eastern Green Links projects are being developed. EGL1âÂÂ4 will all have a capacity of 2GW, and run at 525kV DC. No capacity or cable rating has been published for EGL5.
SEGL1 will run from Torness in southeast Scotland to Hawthorn Pit substation in Murton, County Durham. Landfall in England will be to the north of Seaham, on the Durham Coast. It is developed by Scottish Power Transmission plc (SPT) and National Grid Electricity Transmission plc (National Grid) with a budget of ã1.294billion.
In December 2022, the connection received approval from the UK energy regulator Ofgem. As of July 2024, construction was expected to run from 2025 to 2029. Construction began on 13 February 2025.
The cable will carry 2GW. The DC voltage will be +/-525kV, using voltage source converter (VSC) technology, carried on cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables, with a fallback option of mass impregnated (MI) cables.
The cable will run from Sandford Bay, at Peterhead in Scotland, to the Drax Power Station in Yorkshire, England. The northern converter station will be next to the existing power station at Peterhead. The subsea portion of the cable will be approximately long, from the Aberdeenshire coast to the East Riding of Yorkshire.
EGL2 is a joint venture between SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). with a budget of ã4.3 billion. It is needed to reinforce the National Grid, to "alleviate existing and future constraints on the electricity transmission network", and support new renewable electricity generation. The main contractors are Prysmian, Hitachi Energy, and BAM.
Contracts to construct the cable were finalised in February 2024. The final approvals from Ofgem came in August 2024 and construction began in September 2024. Target date for energisation was 2029.
The cable will carry 2GW. The DC voltage will be +/-525kV, using voltage source converter (VSC) technology, carried on cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables, with a fallback option of mass impregnated (MI) cables.
As part of the National Grid's Great Grid Upgrade project, Eastern Green Link 3 is proposed from Aberdeenshire to Lincolnshire, and Eastern Green Link 4 is proposed from Fife to Lincolnshire.
In December 2025, Ofgem approved two subsea grid connections linking Scottish windfarms to southern England in order to improve their utilisation. National Grid, SSE and Scottish Power will invest in the two subsea power cables â EGL3 from Peterhead and EGL4 from Westfield, Fife â which could begin operations in 2034. The southern terminal of both cables at Anderby Creek, Lincolnshire will connect to a new link between Grimsby and Walpole, Norfolk. Contracts for both cables were signed in early 2026.
Eastern Green Link 5 is proposed from Lincolnshire to Scotland, with the Scottish landfall yet to be determined.