SSEN Transmission has awarded Natural Power an engineering contract to carry out ground investigation services for the onshore section of the proposed 2GW Eastern Green Link 5 (EGL5) HVDC connection between Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and Lincolnshire, England.

SSEN Transmission is majority owned by SSE, the London Stock Exchange-listed energy group that reported group revenue of £10.19 billion, with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan holding the remaining stake. Natural Power is a privately owned renewable energy consultancy headquartered in Castle Douglas, Scotland, founded in 1995 and employing more than 400 people across 14 international offices.

The structural driver is the UK's pipeline of HVDC transmission reinforcement projects needed to move growing volumes of Scottish offshore wind generation to demand centres in England, of which EGL5 is one of several Green Link connections now moving through development. Awarded under SSEN Transmission's engineering framework, the contract covers geotechnical and geoenvironmental ground investigations along the proposed onshore cable route to support the project's design.

Natural Power said planning and preparation work was already under way, with physical ground investigation works scheduled to begin toward the end of August 2026.

SSEN Transmission plans to submit a Development Consent Order application for EGL5 in 2027. If approved, construction would begin in 2030, with the link expected to be fully operational by 2035 and capable of powering around two million homes.

The project is intended to strengthen the UK's electricity transmission network and support the connection and transfer of increasing volumes of offshore wind generation between areas of generation and demand.

For the sector, EGL5 extends a run of large-scale HVDC contract awards on the UK transmission network, giving engineering consultancies a multi-year pipeline of ground investigation and design work tied to the pace of offshore wind connection rather than any single project.

Source: enerdata.net / en.wikipedia.org / naturalpower.com