COST OF UK GRID EXPANSION GOES ON RISING

Rising network expansion fees push up bills as projects suffer HS2-style cost inflation

The subsea cable known as Eastern Green Link 1 will slip into the water at Torness, east of Edinburgh, before resurfacing near the coastal town of Seaham, County Durham.

It is often referred to as a “bootstrap” by energy insiders. But that doesn’t do the project’s scale justice.

Developers say that by 2029 the 120-mile electricity “superhighway” will help unlock Scotland’s renewable energy reserves by transporting enough power for two million homes southward.

At an estimated cost of £2.5bn, it is probably one of the most expensive infrastructure schemes you’ve never heard of – perhaps because it lacks the visibility of a railway, road or bridge.

Yet amid severe delays and escalating costs, Eastern Green Link 1 and schemes like it are now beginning to attract more attention.

The cable and its sister project, Eastern Green Link 2, were originally meant to cost a combined £3.4bn, a figure that has since doubled to an estimated £6.8bn.

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