Huge high-voltage Sea Link project from National Grid project on Minster Marshes ...

A major electricity infrastructure project linking Kent and Suffolk has been given the go-ahead, despite the government acknowledging it will cause significant harm to the landscape and damage wildlife habitats.

National Grid’s Sea Link project will involve a 138km high-voltage electricity connection, most of which will run beneath the sea, with converter stations built in both counties.

Today, the government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) approved the plans and granted a development consent order (DCO) following an examination process led by the Planning Inspectorate.

The approval allows the project to move into its phase, with National Grid now preparing for construction, which will also feature 100ft-tall converter stations at each end of the cable - one at Sizewell in Suffolk and the other at Richborough, near Sandwich, in Kent.

However, the scheme, signed off by energy minister Baroness Margaret Curran on behalf of the Secretary of State, has been hugely controversial among residents and conservationists.

Indeed, Baroness Curran’s 70-page decision letter acknowledges Sea Link will cause “lasting landscape and visual harm” and its operation could lead to “significant adverse landscape and visual effects” for more than 15 years after construction in Kent and Suffolk.

The government noted 12.21 hectares (30 acres) of farmland would be lost in Kent but said National Grid had “gone as far as reasonably practical to mitigate the effects on agricultural land”.

Temporary and permanent habitat loss for birds and wildlife was also identified and should place “moderate negative weight” against the Sea Link project.

However, the government said it is “satisfied that adequate avoidance and mitigation measures are secured to ensure significant adverse effects on breeding birds of the SSSI can be avoided”.

It comes after National Grid proposed biodiversity net gain measures, habitat creation and habitat management in both Kent and Suffolk to compensate for the damage.

The letter adds: “The Secretary of State has concluded that the public benefits associated with the proposed development outweigh the harm identified, and that development consent should therefore be granted.”

The National Grid says Sea Link will help transport more secure, -grown and cleaner electricity to where it is needed, while strengthening the transmission network across England and Wales to meet rising demand.

Adrian Pierssene, project director for Sea Link at National Grid, said: “This decision is an important step forward for Sea Link and for the electricity network in England and Wales.

“As homes, transport and businesses use more electricity, demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

“Sea Link will help the network carry more secure and -grown power to where it is needed. It will also support the jobs, skills, and supply chain needed to deliver The Great Grid Upgrade.”

He added: “Our focus now is on detailed delivery planning, working closely with local partners and keeping communities informed before and during construction.”

Siemens Energy has been appointed to build the converter stations in Kent and Suffolk.

The project's subsea cables will be manufactured by Sumitomo Electric at its new £350 million factory at the Port of Nigg in Scotland.

The facility, which is the UK's first high-voltage direct current subsea cable factory, is expected to create more than 200 skilled jobs locally, with a projected wider impact of more than 400 jobs across the UK supply chain.

National Grid says the Sea Link Project is part of its Great Grid Upgrade, a programme of major infrastructure projects intended to modernise the electricity transmission network and connect more low-carbon energy.

The company says the new connection will increase capacity and flexibility, helping to reduce pressure on existing parts of the electricity system and support a more reliable supply for homes and businesses.

National Grid will now review the details of the DCO and continue preparations, including construction planning, environmental commitments and further engagement with communities and stakeholders.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2027, subject to detailed planning, with the project due to be completed by 2031.

For years, campaigners have been fighting National Grid's scheme for the converter station and substation on a 22-acre area on the Minster Marshes, close to Pegwell Bay, between Sandwich and Ramsgate.

One of the largest of its kind in Europe, the Sea Link undersea cable network will support an offshore high-voltage electricity link between Kent and Suffolk.

The project has come under fire from thousands of objectors, including Herne Bay and Sandwich Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale, who has previously branded National Grid “predatory” and the proposal “an act of environmental vandalism”.

He and others also fear the company had “pre-empted” the planning permission with its ongoing works on site.

East Thanet Labour MP Polly Billington, who was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for DESNZ in July, also previously called for a rethink on the project because of its potential ecological damage.

Since 2023, 17,000 people have signed a petition started by the Save Minster Marshes group, calling to pause the project to research alternative sites for the cable’s landfall in Kent.

Objectors say the development will destroy a “critical ecological superhighway”, to hundreds of bird species, many of which are on the endangered list

At the heart of campaigners' concerns is the decimation of the marshes with heavy industry which, they say, will require 40,000 lorry loads of aggregate, a 1km haul road with 27 water crossings, and deep foundation piles in a high water table environment.

The marshes also sit adjacent to a site of special scientific interest, support 37 red-listed species, and contain some of the most significant archaeology in Britain - including the likely landing site of St Augustine in 597AD and Caesar's marching camp.

Wildlife campaigner Nik Mitchell said of today’s decision: “I’m extremely disappointed at how rushed it's been from day one, and that permission has been granted despite final plans not being in place, and surveys not being finalised.

“We’ve been picked all along because we’re the cheapest option, we’re in favour of green energy but not at the expense of our environment

“What’s the point in having a SSSI if we just let them trench a cable through it?

“I’m beyond disappointed in the result, it’s a loss for the environment in one of the most nature-depleted areas of the country.”

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