Ofgem’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework is fast-tracking 26 major connection projects which will boost grid capacity and could deliver estimated savings of £1.5 billion.
A £3.4 billion funding package has been awarded to build a proposed new subsea and underground 500km cable between Scotland and Yorkshire which could power up to 2 million homes.
Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) is the first of 26 projects to complete a fast-track process to secure funding through Ofgem’s new ASTI framework. ASTI accelerates the funding process by up to two years, allowing electricity generated by offshore wind to be delivered to British consumers sooner.
EGL2 will deliver a 2GW high voltage electricity ‘superhighway’ cable link between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax in North Yorkshire, which will help harness the potential of British offshore wind power. Most of the cable (around 436km) will be under the North Sea with the remaining 70km buried underground onshore. Two converter stations, one at each end of the cable, are planned to help feed the electricity transported by the cable into the grid and from there onto consumers.
As part of its mission to upgrade the energy system at least possible cost to customers, Ofgem scrutinised the developers’ proposal and identified over £79m of savings which have been cut from the project costs without impacting delivery or quality.
ASTI projects will not only help provide millions of consumers with access to homegrown wind energy, but by boosting grid capacity they will deliver an estimated £1.5 billion of savings by reducing the need to compensate generators who are currently asked to turn off production, during times of high wind, due to lack of grid capacity.
Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem CEO, said, “Ofgem is fully committed to supporting the government to meet its aims of getting clean power by 2030. Today’s announcement is a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place to speed up network regulation to achieve its aim.
“Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) accelerates approval times for projects such as Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) by up to two years. However, streamlining the process does not mean blank cheques for developers as we are able to step in and make financial adjustments to maximise efficiency and consumer benefit.”
Work on the project is expected to begin later this year and to be complete by 2029.
Ofgem has also published updates on the following ASTI projects:
Yorkshire Green
Ofgem has announced a proposed funding allowance of £294.8m for another project in its ASTI cohort, the Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement (GREEN) project. The project involves a proposed upgrade to the local electricity network to help transport energy generated by Scottish and North Sea windfarms to consumers. Plans include building new substations, underground cables, over 7km of overhead lines and cable sealing end compounds (where underground cables meet overhead lines). Ofgem’s proposed funding allowance are now subject to consultation with the project currently slated to be operational by 2027.
North London Reinforcement Project and Scottish Hydro Electricity Transmission (SHET) Bulk Submission
The ASTI framework enables ASTI project developers to apply for Early Construction Funding (ECF). These allow project developers to apply for up to 20% of total forecast project costs to fund early construction activities including land purchases, early procurement purchases and preparatory works, such as ground preparation.
Ofgem has today approved ECF requests for:
- The North London Reinforcement Project a project which involves replacing existing 275kV overhead lines with higher voltage 400kV overhead line from Pelham substation, Hertfordshire to Waltham Cross substation in Epping Forest, through Enfield, and then to Tottenham substation in Haringey. The project also involves associated works to the substations at Pelham, Waltham Cross, Brimsdown, Tottenham and Hackney
- SHET bulk submission for six onshore and two offshore projects to boost electricity transmission capacity to enable more clean energy to be transported to where it’s needed
