Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has received the notification from SP Transmission plc and National Grid Electricity Transmission plc, two of the GB transmission grid owners, selecting them as the exclusive preferred bidder for the Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) cable connection.

Prysmian Group continues the contract negotiations with the aim of concluding the contract later this year.

Eastern Green Link 1 is a planned high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine and underground cable link of around 200 km route length (requiring approximately 400 km of cable) between Torness in Scotland and Hawthorn Pit in the North of England. With a power transmission capacity of 2 GW the connection is expected to be the first cable system in the UK to utilise 525 kV technology with extruded XLPE insulation. An HVAC 400 kV cable system for a route length of 5 km (requiring around 30 km of cable) shall also connect the converter station and grid substation at the Scotland end of the route.

EGL1 forms part of a series of planned system reinforcements required to increase the capability of the existing UK transmission network and facilitate the growth in flows of renewable generation in the north to demand centres to the south, supporting the target of enabling 50 GW offshore wind generation by 2030 and achieving a Net Zero economy by 2050.