PLANS for a substation at the centre of a £1.6 billion project to create an "underwater super-highway" to bring offshore energy into the UK network are set to get the go-ahead next week.
The latest application is a key link in plans to create an Eastern Link between Torness and County Durham which aims to turn the North Sea into an energy powerhouse for the future.
SP Energy has resubmitted proposals for the 400 kilovolt (kV) Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) substation at Branxton and, despite receiving more than 60 objections, including from local community councils, East Lothian Council planning officers are recommending it for approval.
It is estimated that about 12km of underground cables will be required to link the new substation, a converter station and landfall sites in East Lothian with 176km subsea cables linking the Torness and County Durham sites.
However, the substation – which it is estimated could take up to five years to construct, with work going on six days a week as it is built – has raised concerns from local residents, who say that the area is already taking an "unfair amount" of renewable projects and are concerned about the lengthy construction hours.
East Lammermuir Community Council said that, while it supported the aims of the Scottish Government and East Lothian Council in pursuing the renewable energy agenda, it could not support the proposed development.
The group called for a "pause" on the substation, saying it was the “key to all of the other developments” and “major schemes” in the area.
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And nearby West Barns Community Council said that it had concerns about the cumulative impact of the number of energy projects focused around the site, adding that the new grid connection being created was a “a breeder of a proliferation of energy projects seeking to gain access to the National Grid”.
Despite the objections, council officers are recommending the application be approved when it goes before the planning committee on Tuesday next week.
Announcing plans for the new Eastern Link two years ago, SP Energy said that it would deliver “an underwater super-highway that would see the North Sea become the hidden powerhouse of Europe”.
The company says that the work is vital in meeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the future as it works with the National Grid to develop some of the longest underwater high-voltage direct current (HVDC) links in the world.
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