SEAS passionately supports increasing offshore wind energy to help us get to Net Zero. We are championing innovative but practical, integrated solutions for transmission network design, that are cheaper for all of Britain's consumers, faster to deliver and better in terms of environmental and community impact.

We propose pooling wind power offshore and transporting it closer to where it is needed (London/South East) using subsea cables, coming onshore at brownfield sites. Our modular offshore grid plans are in line with the leading European wind power design strategies (e.g. Elia in Belgium). The cost benefits of our designs are supported by figures from National Grid ESO's own research about the overall system benefits of offshore integration.

We reject current outdated plans to bring multiple wind projects onshore on the Suffolk Coast, effectively industrialising protected areas of countryside with unnecessary onshore infrastructure, an unacceptable cumulative economic, social and environmental impact, when better solutions are available.

YES to Offshore Wind, NO to Onshore Plans

Offshore Grid is Best

Better, Cheaper, Faster

Examples Letters for East Anglia Study responses

In Newsletter 136  we urged you to write to key decision makers, giving you template text and a distribution list to create emails in your own words. Here on this page/post we...

Exploding The Myths

EXPLODING THE MYTHS National Grid’s propaganda asserts the following claims. SEAS supporters should challenge their assertions. “Offshore solutions are not straightforward for...

Wake Up National Grid You Are Out Of Date

Last week, we were assailed with devastating news regarding LionLink’s plans:LionLink’s Non-Statutory Consultation documents, confirmed proposals for ANOTHER HUGE 26 m HIGH...

ITV Anglia featuring SEAS – LionLink decides preferred landfall sites at Southwold or Walberswick

See ITV Anglia's extended piece on LionLink's proposed landfall sites and its impact on the Suffolk Coast. National Grid has revealed the preferred landfall sites and cabling...

LionLink proposed landfall sites revealed.

National Grid has revealed the preferred landfall sites and cabling routes for the LionLink interconnector between Holland and the UK, with proposed landfall at Southwold or...

SEAS Meeting with Suffolk County Council

On 7 February there was a SEAS Meeting with Suffolk County Council, about SCC's unsatisfactory response to the Sealink consultation and the recent National Grid ESO East Anglia...

Ralph Fiennes on Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg

Wasn't it great to see Ralph Fiennes on Sunday with Laura Kuennsberg 11 February, in such eloquent and passionate form, what a terrific champion and knowledgeable advocate for...

With One Voice Poetry Challenge

The With One Voice Poetry Challenge is CALLING ALL POETS… or simply anyone who enjoys putting ‘pen to paper’. Thanks to the initiative and valiant efforts of supporters Anne...

SEAS on BBC Radio 4 with Evan Davis

Fiona Gilmore gets great balanced coverage + a poor response from National Grid.

SEAS launch Petition along with Ralph Fiennes Film ‘Coast’

Please sign and share our National Petition! Alongside it is a brilliant new film 'COAST' made for SEAS by Ralph Fiennes and Director Charles Sturridge, with many film crew and...

EADT – National Grid ESO considers study on SEAS proposals

SEAS Fiona Gilmore believes National Grid ESO will carry out a 'comparative study' into bringing the cables onshore at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex VS a new substation at Friston.

BBC Article re SeaLink – SEAS quoted

Consultation on Suffolk-Kent Sea Link project ends after 1k responses. SEAS David McKenna says, "..the problem is over a number of decades the government has effectively...

SEAS Response to SeaLink Consultation

SEAS sent a detailed response to SeaLink about their recent Statutory Consultation, pushing back against their unsatisfactory consultation and misguided plans

SEAS in EADT – Concerns OCSS wind farm funding will ‘end Suffolk oasis’

Fiona Gilmore gets great balanced coverage + a poor response from National Grid.

ESNZ Commons Committee – ‘A flexible grid for the future’ with Fiona Gilmore

Examining how to reform the planning system to support the delivery of renewable energy generation, and what needs to be done to ensure the UK has the infrastructure it needs to...

UK’s bid for net zero in the balance due to grid ‘blind spot’

“....why ride roughshod over all the environmental protections in place for this area when there are alternative routes?” David Riches, WALL

EADT Therese Coffey at SEAS meeting, ‘unleashed’ by resignation

Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey told a SEAS campaigners' meeting she has been 'unleashed' to help community groups fighting plans to route electricity cables through the...

URGENT PUBLIC MEETING – Saxmundham’s Energy Projects

National Grid's plans to site 3 Converter Stations on the East side of Sax. SEAS Fiona Gilmore will present the offshore alternative to industrialising Suffolk Coastal.

Sealink- BBC ‘Suffolk residents concerned about Sea Link cable project’

National Grid is planning Sealink a 90-mile (145km) project connecting Friston and Richborough in Kent, including connection points on land, to take excess energy out of Suffolk...

BBC Radio Suffolk – Aldeburgh: The Sea Link proposals

Interviews from the Sealink public consultation - featuring SEAS David McKenna

LionLink – Suffolk County Council criticises power cable scheme

Plans for a huge electricity cable to come onshore near protected sites were "wholly unacceptable", the council said.

SEAS Response to LionLink Supplementary Non-Statutory Consultation

SEAS Response to LionLink Supplementary Non-Statutory Consultation

SEALINK Statutory Consultation is live 24 Oct – 18 Dec 2023

SEALINK is an HVDC subsea transmission cable which takes EXCESS power from Friston to Kent. This is the FINAL stage of the process before a DCO (Development Consent Order)...

EADT ‘Suffolk wind farm group granted Court of Appeal hearing’

SEAS believes Lord Justice Singh's decision will enable the case for an offshore grid to be advanced, instead of routing the cables from the East Anglia ONE and TWO wind farms...

EADT Government minister to return to Suffolk following Councils’ letter

A Government minister Andrew Bowie will be returning to Suffolk next month after a letter signed by 37 councils called for 'greater engagement' on energy projects.

Court fight against $8bn Iberdrola mega-project cleared to continue

SEAS granted permission to appeal against an earlier decision by the High Court in London, that rejected its calls for a judicial review into UK government consent for...

New York Times article featuring SEAS

'Green Energy Casts a Shadow Over a Cherished English Landscape' - Stanley Read visited East Anglia, writing about how "residents of East Anglia fear that planned power lines for...

The Times on LionLink consultation, ‘Celebrities join campaign against green energy cable at Suffolk village’

"Wind farm interconnector would help to power 1.8m homes, but Walberswick locals say it would be disastrous for the landscape, wildlife and tourism".

BBC Look East – Latest Energy News

Prime Minister Richi Sunak struggles to justify current plans for onshore wind infrastructure and nuclear.

Fantastic turnout to LionLink consultations

Recent consultation events in Reydon/Southwold and Walberswick saw over 700 locals showed up to oppose LionLink’s ridiculous plans.

East Suffolk Council Energy Debate

Meeting of the Full Council on Wednesday, 27 September 2023 - Agenda Documents HERE

Article in The Sun – Walberswick being destroyed

LOCALS in the seaside village of Walberswick which is home to a number of celebs say it’s being destroyed by huge trenches which are as wide as a motorway.

Great Libby Purves Time Article

Lack of energy plan risks panic-bulldozing - It’s time Government laid out what infrastructure is needed where, or we will rush into destroying our countryside

BBC Radio4 Today – Electricity infrastructure / Offshore Grid

Prof Nick Butler Energy Economist and Rosie Pearson from Pylons interviewed about Britain's energy infrastructure

Press Release re Winser Report

Winser Report - Independent recommendations from the UK’s Electricity Networks Commissioner, Nick Winser, on how to accelerate the deployment of electricity transmission...

SEAS Commentary on 27 July 2023 OTNR Report

The OTNR took three years to be completed heralding new policy reforms for a Future Framework, at last a master plan in the making.

Email to Minister Bowie urging independent analysis

Wind farm PAUSE is an Offshore Grid opportunity Vattenfall/Developers can reduce costs via an Integrated Offshore Grid.

DESNZ publishes response to OTNR consultation

Offshore Transmission Network Review: proposals for an enduring regime and multi-purpose interconnectors

Ørsted already building trench for Hornsea Three wind farm

Carving of 80m wide trench through Norfolk countryside begins (eventually 53km long)

Joint letter with Pylons to Andrew Bowie

We correct National Grid's disingenuous Offshore Grid costings for East Anglia with a joint letter with Pylons to Andrew Bowie

PRESS RELEASE re JR decision and Appeal

SEAS were disappointed re the JR judgment but having reviewed it with legal team have decided to proceed with an Appeal.

Emails to Grant Shapps urging OFFSET MPs meeting

SEAS and many supporters emailed urging a meeting before MPs summer recess

SEAS and many supporters emailed urging a meeting before MPs summer recess

SEAS and many supporters emailed urging a meeting before MPs summer recess

Fiona Gilmore on BBC Radio Suffolk re Offshore Grid

National Grid launch a public consultation about Norwich to Tilbury pylons, Fiona Gilmore speaks to Luke Deal about the offshore grid alternative.

Positive meeting with Nuclear & Networks Minister Andrew Bowie MP

After four years of invitations to successive energy Ministers SEAS finally met face to face to discuss an Offshore Grid

Greens sweep East Suffolk Council Elections

Congratulations to Aldeburgh & Leiston's new East Suffolk Councillors: Tom Daly (Energy & Climate Change ), Katie Graham (Communities. Leisure, Tourism) and Sarah...

Therese Coffey presents her petition to the House of Commons

Signed by 3,821 people, the petition requests a comparative study for East Anglia of offshore transmission network designs, including with landfall at brownfield sites, properly...

National Grid ESO announces Offshore Transmission routes review for East Anglia

Essex, Suffolk & Norfolk Community Groups are jointly demanding a review of an offshore grid linking ALL of East Anglia’s windfarms & interconnectors to offshore energy...

Griff Rhys Jones joins celebrity campaign against offshore wind turbines onshore blight

The comedian and actor Griff Rhys Jones has joined a campaign to stop more than 100 coastal villages being blighted by pylons, substations and cables connected to offshore wind...

Suffolk Mp, Writes To Energy Secretary

The Rt Hon Dr Therese Coffey MP writes to the Energy Secretary asking "what reassurance he can give me that any future application will need to demonstrate a thorough and robust...

The Councils position remains unchanged

SEAS call on the Council "to write to the Secretary of State and declare that it is no longer 'neutral' about the proposals but does in fact oppose them", SEAS letter to East...

Spr Are Using ‘gagging’ Clauses In Their Agreements With Landowners

Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) are using “gagging” clauses in their agreements with landowners involved in the planning process for their offshore wind farms, EA1N and EA2....

Coast is Far From Clear for Green Power Projects

Financial Times, 6 January 2022 Getting any national PR has been hard. We believe that this is because most journalists do not dig deep into the issues and simply endorse the...

Crossed wires: East Suffolk for first pathfinder project

Policy Exchange “Without reform, there is now a significant risk that local backlash against grid connections for offshore wind farm will grow, spreading from East Anglia to...

Pm Confirms His Support For An Offshore Grid

"I thank the Prime Minister for the support he has already shown for coming forward with an offshore transmission grid, which he knows will help us to both export our surplus...

3-Months Extension To The Examinations

On 1 April 2021, 5 days before the 6 month Examination period was due to close, the Planning Inspectorate announced that the Secretary of State had granted a 3-month extension to...

Keeping The Lights On, Private Eye

'Old Sparky' EDF's prospective new nuke at Sizewell is not the only vast energy scheme threatening Suffolk's rural amenities and running laughable “consultation” exercises (Eyes...

ABOUT SEAS

Suffolk Energy Action Solutions (SEAS), founded in August 2019, is a community group set up to campaign against the severe adverse impacts of the National Grid and Governments ill-conceived plans of making Friston and Suffolk Coastal into an Energy Hub. SEAS is in favour of offshore wind energy but against the current proposals for the delivery of that wind power to the grid which will have a devastating impact on a unique onshore environment, social health and wellbeing, the local tourist economy and coastal communities. SEAS has promoted for the last three years a smarter solution, using offshore integration and brownfield sites closer to where the power is needed.

THE STORY SO FAR

The launching of the SEA LINK (a subsea transmission cable from coastal Suffolk to Kent) and LION LINK (an Interconnector between coastal Suffolk and Holland) consultation process by National Grid combined with the Nautilus Interconnector and ScottishPower Renewables offshore windfarms East Anglia One North and East Anglia Two further reveals the hard evidence and leaves no doubt that Suffolk Coast and Heaths is threatened by an onslaught of energy infrastructure projects.

NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION

Current outdated plans would create one or two onshore Energy Superhubs within the coastal area and severely affect communities along the precious Heritage Coast from Southwold, Walberswick, and Dunwich to Thorpeness and Aldeburgh. Halesworth, Yoxford, Saxmundham, Leiston and all the villages between could be impacted during 10 years of construction compounding the traffic issues for the A12 and rural lanes which were never intended for mass industrialisation. Sizewell C will further exacerbate the congestion. Aldeburgh’s main arterial route the A1094 could become a no-go zone for visitors and emergency services may fail to be timely. The cumulative impact of these MULTIPLE PROJECTS would effectively industrialise this area of outstanding natural beauty and decimate the local nature-tourism reliant economy. This is NEEDLESS VANDALISM, given a better alternative is available now.

THE MODERN SOLUTION

An OFFSHORE GRID through the NORTH SEA CORRIDOR would avoid churning up rural areas, AONB, SSSI, SPA and prime farmland to reach multiple onshore substations and negate the outcry over 180 pylons cutting swathes through precious countryside from Norwich in Norfolk through Suffolk to Bramford on to Tilbury through Essex. Building onshore infrastructure at brownfield sites closer to where the power is needed would ensure better solutions for the local tourism economies, local communities and the environment.

Belgium, Germany, Holland and Denmark are already introducing these kinds of integrated offshore grids using offshore platforms and artificial islands for operation by 2030. There is no good reason why the UK cannot do the same. The North Sea Corridor is the modern way forward. Coastal Suffolk is a DEVIATION

A RISING TIDE OF OPPOSITION

There is a rising tide of opposition from across the political spectrum to current short-sighted proposals, MPs have formed ‘OFFSET’ a group to lobby for an offshore grid, have debated in Westminster and are actively seeking an OFFSHORE GRID. Essex and Norfolk community groups are also strongly opposing similar ill-conceived energy projects and the united call is for an OFFSHORE GRID connecting to brownfield sites nearer to where the power is needed.

WHY IS EAST ANGLIA IS BEING THROWN UNDER A BUS?

The harsh reality is that East Anglia is being thrown under a bus by DESNZ and National Grid as they instruct offshore wind farm developers to connect to National Grid Substations (many not even built) on the East Coast to deposit their offshore wind power ignoring the Holistic Network Design criteria being used elsewhere in the UK. This is madness when other North Sea countries are investing in offshore grids and using brownfield or industrialised sites close to where the power is needed.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

There is a better alternative that has already been developed by National Grid and proved deliverable These alternative plans are more cost efficient than the current proposals and require 50% less infrastructure, so is beneficial for the environment: an OFFSHORE GRID through the North Sea Corridor. These National Grid plans from 2015 and 2020 could be updated and implemented quickly. SEAS proposed alternative solution of a Modular Offshore Grid (MOG) can be implemented WITHIN THE SAME TIMESCALE as the current proposed plans, which we now understand have been delayed by two years.

“We destroy plants at our peril. Neither we nor any other animal can survive without them. The time has now come for us to cherish our green inheritance, not to pillage it – for without, we will surely perish.” Sir David Attenborough

Experts calculate that 81% of turtle doves have been lost in the East of England since the 1970s

Campaign With Us

We are asking you to write, to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), see full details HERE

Yes to Offshore Wind Energy, Let's Do it Right