Dear Parish Clerk,
Stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation on our early proposals for Eastern Green Link 5 (EGL 5)
We are writing from National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) regarding our proposed Eastern Green Link 5 (EGL 5) project, to make you aware of our upcoming consultation and offer you a briefing.
Your parish is located within our ‘primary consultation zone’, which means our project’s proposed emerging preferred corridors are located in your parish, or within 1 km (for our underground cables) or 1.5 km (for our converter station) of your parish. The emerging preferred corridors are the areas where new infrastructure could be located.
The proposals form part of ‘The Great Grid Upgrade’, which is the largest overhaul of the grid in generations.
The EGL 5 project
EGL 5 is a proposed primarily offshore high voltage electricity link, with associated onshore infrastructure, between Scotland and England.
EGL 5 would transport enough clean energy from Scotland to power up to two million homes in parts
of the Midlands and South of England. By doing so, it would play an important role in building a more secure and resilient future energy system, and decarbonising the UK.
We are seeking your feedback on our early proposals for EGL 5. These proposals include onshore infrastructure located in the district of East Lindsey, Lincolnshire and offshore infrastructure in English waters.
This onshore infrastructure includes underground cables running from a preferred landfall at Anderby Creek on the Lincolnshire coastline to one converter station, located either to the north-east of Bilsby or north-west of Huttoft. The underground cables would then continue from the converter station and connect into a new substation, Lincolnshire Connection Substation B (LCS-B), which is proposed as part of NGET’s separate Grimsby to Walpole project.
The proposed offshore elements include subsea cables from a location in Scotland to landfall at Anderby Creek on the Lincolnshire coastline in England. We will be seeking consent for the EGL 5 proposed offshore elements which are located within English waters, together with the onshore elements of EGL 5 in England
You can learn more about the project by visiting nationalgrid.com/egl5
Our stage 1 consultation for EGL 5
Our stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation will run for six weeks from 12pm noon Tuesday 13 May to 11:59pm on Monday 23 June and is an opportunity to share your views on our proposals for EGL 5.
During this stage 1 consultation, we are seeking views on the proposed siting of the new infrastructure in England and English waters and what you would like to see us consider as we further develop our proposals.
This stage is called a ‘non-statutory’ consultation, which is an optional stage of the development consent order (DCO) process, and is in addition to the statutory consultation that we plan to carry out next year. We hope to engage with as many residents and stakeholders as possible and will be publicising our consultation and holding in-person and virtual consultation events.
The EGL 5 project is in its early stage of development, and we intend to seek consent for the English onshore elements via an application to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order (DCO). We also intend to consent the marine elements of the project within English waters as part of the DCO. This will require a direction from the Secretary of State pursuant to s35 of the Planning Act 2008. The project has requested this direction from the Secretary of State (SoS) for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). If approved, we will then submit an application to the Planning Inspectorate for a DCO to build and operate EGL 5.
We will be communicating with and updating landowners who are potentially impacted by our early proposals. Our lands suppliers Ardent will be assisting us with this and have dedicated communications channels for any queries landowners may have – egl5@ardent-management.com and 0203 105 0989.
Other NGET projects in the region
NGET will also be holding a separate stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation for the Eastern Green Link 3 (EGL 3) and Eastern Green Link 4 (EGL 4) projects, from Tuesday 13 May – Monday 23 June, the same time as EGL 3 and EGL 4. The projects would share a common landfall at Anderby Creek, in East Lindsey.
The EGL 3 and EGL 4 proposals have evolved and the three-ended link to the proposed Grimsby to Walpole project, which was shown during the initial stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation in Spring 2024, has been removed. The removal of this link means the removal of the associated converter station, direct current switching station and associated HVDC and HVAC underground cables from the Bilsby area. It means that the number of converter stations originally proposed in the vicinity of the proposed substation, in the Bilsby area, will not be increased with the introduction of the proposed EGL 5 project.
As you will be aware, in 2024 NGET held a stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation for the separate proposals for the Grimsby to Walpole project. Grimsby to Walpole’s proposed new Lincolnshire substation is located near Bilsby, East Lindsey. We are proposing that the EGL 5 converter station connects to this substation. Between June and August 2025, the project will be holding its stage 2 (statutory) consultation on its updated proposals.
NGET will also be holding a stage 1 (non-statutory) consultation on early proposals for the Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire project between June and August 2025. Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire is a proposed network reinforcement, carrying enough electricity into the Midlands to power up to 6 million homes. Weston Marsh to East Leicestershire will not overlap with EGL 5.
If your parish is included within the consultation zones of these projects, you will be notified in writing.
Offer of a briefing
We would like to offer you the opportunity to receive a briefing from the project team, where they will talk you through our early proposals and answer any questions you may have.
We will be holding a virtual briefing invite for parish councils on our onshore proposals for EGL 5 at 6pm – 7pm on Monday 19 May. You can register for the event via this link: https://events.teams.
Please note, this briefing would also provide information on NGET’s separate proposals for EGL 3 and EGL 4.
We would welcome your feedback on our proposals. You can provide feedback by emailing contactegl5@nationalgrid.com, sending a letter to Freepost EGL 5 or via online and hard copy feedback forms.
The deadline to provide feedback is 11:59pm on Monday 23 June 2025.
Digital poster and newsletter
Please find attached a digital version of the Consultation newsletter that was sent to residents and a digital poster that you can share via your networks. These documents include details of all our in-person events and webinars, as well as our contact details. If you would like to request hard copies of the Consultation newsletter or poster, please do so by replying to this email (contactegl5@nationalgrid.com)
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Mathers,
Project Director, Eastern Green Link 5 (EGL 5)