National Grid announces shortlisted locations for LionLink interconnector
Decision reached following extensive community engagement
Top priorities are meeting UK’s net-zero targets and saving consumers money
National Grid announced today (Wednesday 6 March), its chosen landfall, cable route, and convertor station locations for its new green energy link to the Netherlands. This decision was reached following extensive community engagement and technical research on all of the available options. National Grid’s decision was based on a commitment to increase the UK’s interconnector capacity, meet the government's net-zero targets and save consumers money.
The company today published its chosen location options for the interconnector’s landfall, cable route, and convertor station, following its second public consultation held last autumn.
The proposed LionLink interconnector, which is a joint project between National Grid Ventures (NGV) and Dutch system operator TenneT, will enable the sharing of 1.8GW of green energy by connecting Suffolk to both The Netherlands and a Dutch offshore windfarm. LionLink will play a key role in strengthening the UK’s energy security with the ability to power approximately 2.5 million UK homes*. It will also bring huge environmental benefits – saving more than 1.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions in its first year alone*.
Gareth Burden, Construction Director, National Grid, said: "LionLink has an important role to play in reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels and bringing more clean, green, and renewable energy into the UK’s energy system. This will not only strengthen the country’s energy security but also lower bills for consumers too.
"Over 2,000 people engaged with our consultation process and each piece of feedback has been reviewed and fed into the development of our plans for the project. We will continue to listen to the community and want to find ways to work together as we deliver this vital piece of energy infrastructure as we move towards net zero."
In September 2023 the LionLink project ran a thorough eight-week public consultation period, detailing five possible cable routes the project could take across the region and five possible converter site locations. Following feedback received during LionLink’s first public consultation in 2022, the 2023 consultation included a second Walberswick landfall site and an additional northern cable route from Southwold. These elements were introduced to avoid the Walberswick beach and carpark, and avoid environmentally sensitive areas around Southwold.
Announcing the shortlisted locations marks the next step in the project’s planning process ahead of the statutory public consultation in 2025. The most suitable locations are as follows:
Landfall site F: Southwold
Landfall site G2: Walberswick
Converter station C3: Saxmundham
Landfall sites at Southwold (F) and Walberswick (G2) were chosen as they offer a shorter and less intrusive offshore cable route, lessening marine disruption with fewer cable crossings.
Converter station C3 has been selected due to its potential to collocate converter stations with other projects in the area including Sea Link.
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