New Subsea Cable Will Link Northern Scotland to England

Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) said on Tuesday it had signed a joint venture agreement with Britain's National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) to build a 2 gigawatt (GW) subsea cable linking northern Scotland to England.

The Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) will be the country's largest ever electricity transmission project, will create a 525 kilowatt (KW), 2 GW high voltage direct current subsea transmission cable from Peterhead in Scotland to Drax in England, SSEN said in a statement.

"The EGL2 link will support the growth of new renewable electricity generation, creating jobs and delivering a pathway to net zero emissions targets, as well as helping to alleviate existing constraints on the electricity network," the statement said.

"It is part of the significant amount of new network infrastructure required for net zero and will play a critical role in supporting the UK's future security of supply, reducing dependence and price exposure to volatile global wholesale gas markets," it added.

After obtaining final regulatory approvals, Work on the project is expected to commence in 2024, and operation is expected in 2029.

In June, SSEN said it will invest 10 billion pounds ($12.5 billion) under its "Pathway to 2030 Programme" in several new onshore and sub-sea transmission links as part of a wider upgrade of the electricity transmission network across Britain to meet climate change and energy security targets.

(Reuters - Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by David Evans)