Cllr Richard Rout, speaking for Suffolk County Council, and National Grid disagree over LionLink infrastructure proposals
An agency and an authority have clashed over infrastructure proposals for a major energy project.
Cllr Richard Rout, speaking on behalf of Suffolk County Council, said plans put forward by National Grid for LionLink and Sea Link were ‘totally unacceptable’ and lacking respect for Suffolk communities.
In response, National Grid said more than 2,000 people were involved in the non-statutory consultation process for the projects and emphasised the environmental benefits.
Cllr Rout said: “The high handed and process-driven approach by National Grid Ventures is totally unacceptable – they are showing a complete lack of respect to Suffolk and its coastal communities.
“The absence of coordination between the Sea Link and LionLink projects will, if they are consented, result in over 10 miles of some of the most sensitive and important landscapes in the UK being dug up to create more trenches for more cabling.
“This additional and unnecessary destruction of the Suffolk countryside and natural environment could be wholly avoided, if there was project coordination – something we have been calling for, for years.”
Cllr Rout added that, if LionLink had to make landfall in Suffolk, the project must do everything possible to minimise harm to the environment and communities.
LionLink would join offshore wind energy between the UK and the Netherlands and has the potential to save UK customers an estimated £300 million in its first decade, as well as having the capacity to power around 2.5 million UK homes a year.
National Grid said local communities have a key role to play in the energy transition and it was committed to hearing from those in areas it was proposing for development. It is also exploring options for co-location with the Sea Link project.
A spokesperson for the agency said: “Since 2022 we have held two non-statutory public consultations with over 2,000 people attending our online and in-person events.
“We have taken this feedback on board to come up with the shortlisted options and will be consulting further with communities.
“We are working closely with the Sea Link project to explore opportunities to co-locate onshore infrastructure for LionLink and Sea Link where technically feasible.
“Options could include a single converter station site and shared underground cable route corridors from the shared converter station site to the Friston substation.”
The joint project, between National Grid Ventures (NGV) and Dutch system operator TenneT, will have a landfall site at either Southwold or Walberswick, a converter station in Saxmundham and a proposed substation in Friston.
In 2025 a statutory public consultation will be held on the project. NGV is expected to a submit a Development Consent Order application the same year.