FAQs

National Grid Electricity Transmission owns, builds and maintains the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales. Every time a phone is plugged in, or a switch is turned on, National Grid Electricity Transmission have played a part, connecting you to the electricity you need. 

Electricity generated from windfarms and other power sources is transported through the electricity network of pylons, overhead lines, cables, and substations. It then goes on to separate lower voltage local distribution networks, which connect directly to homes and businesses.

SP Energy Networks is the distribution and transmission network operator who keeps electricity flowing to homes and businesses throughout Central and Southern Scotland, North Wales, Merseyside, Cheshire and North Shropshire.

They do this through the network of substations, overhead lines and underground cables which they own and maintain.

As the country shifts away from traditional forms of fuel to heat homes, charge vehicles and power businesses, there is greater need for home-produced, clean electricity.

By the end of this decade, the UK Government also aims for every home in the country to be powered by offshore wind and has set a 50-gigawatt offshore wind connections target by 2030.

EGL1 is a crucial part of the solution to achieve this target.

EGL1 will strengthen the electricity network between Scotland and England, allowing the increasing amounts of this home-produced renewable electricity to reach the consumers that need it.

Once complete, EGL1 will deliver enough electricity for two million homes.

The footprint for the Converter station sites in both locations is approximately 7 hectares.

The cable trenches will be around 1.5m wide and 0.9m deep. The cables will be installed within a fenced working area. This working area includes a temporary haul road, passing bays, separate topsoil and subsoil storage, and drainage.

To make landfall, the cables will be installed using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD).

This method drills conduits to carry the cables under the intertidal zone and the near-shore seabed at the landfall points and then installs ducts which the cables can later be pulled through.

This approach minimises work in the intertidal zone and also reduces related environmental impacts including those on protected species and sensitive habitats, and on people using the foreshore.

For our main works, including the construction of our converter station, our normal working hours are typically 7:30am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays.

However, there may be exceptional circumstances when some works will need to be completed outside of these hours.

We are committed to carrying out our works with minimal impact on the local community. We have completed an environmental assessment for each site and, before works begin, Construction Environmental Management Plans and Construction Logistics Plans will be agreed with the relevant local authorities.

The onshore cables will be buried below ground, with the exception of a few small inspection and testing chambers which will be visible above ground and installation works will be temporary. After our works are complete, the land will be fully reinstated with most if not all activities on the land being resumed thereafter.

We are committed to minimising the impact of construction on the local environment, infrastructure and communities. Local people have been consulted throughout the planning process for the project. 

We worked with Durham County Council and East Lothian Council to develop robust Traffic Management Plans, which includes speed limits, noise limits and hours of operation. This will be complied with by all contractors working on EGL1.

During the construction period EGL 1 will endeavour to be a good neighbour and minimise disruption where possible.

County Durham

Works traffic for our converter station and substation sites will come via the A19 and then join the road that leads to Jade business park (known locally as the ‘Road to nowhere’).

We are also building a private road from the roundabout which will then become permanent up to the converter station, as well as a temporary haul road to the substation site.

Torness

Works traffic for our converter station and substation sites will be via a newly designed and built slip road from the A1, leading to a newly built and designed temporary haul road. These have been designed to keep construction traffic relating to the associated works off the local roads network as much as possible

Helping society decarbonise is the biggest contribution we can make to the environment and this ambition is the very foundation of EGL1.

However, we must also consider our direct impact and have worked to ensure that our project will meet and exceed environmental standards to protect local wildlife and local ecology.

To minimise the impact of our work we have undertaken a range of environmental assessments around the sites of our proposed converter stations and substations, and along our cable route.

We will not only look to protect existing habitats and prevalent species but will also seek to ensure that local biodiversity is left in a measurably better condition. We will provide, as a minimum, a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain and we will work with our stakeholders to deliver this.

Ofgem has provided EGL1 with a Community Benefit Fund to ensure deliver on government’s desire to see that local communities benefit from hosting transmission infrastructure.

Unlike developers, SP Energy Networks and National Grid are both regulated by Ofgem and will be subject to forthcoming government guidance on community benefits for transmission infrastructure.

Due to this, we are not able to merge our funds with those provided by other developers, as Ofgem will expect us to report on the benefits that our funding delivers.

We will be working with communities to give a clear understanding of the opportunities available and provide support in accessing the Community Benefit Fund if required.