1. What is Sea Link?

Sea Link is a National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea link between Suffolk and Kent, according to National Grid to improve transmission network resilience, however in practice simply to remove excess energy from Suffolk. The plans currently involve landfall through North Warren between Aldeburgh and Thorpeness with a huge M11 width cable trench to Saxmundham, plus for Sea Link and other energy projects the building of up to 4 huge Converter stations (each bigger than Buckingham Palace) near Saxmundham and 2 substations at Friston (see Maps HERE)

It is not a renewable energy project, it is purely there to take excess power brought onshore by East Anglia One North (EA1N) and East Anglia Two (EA2) wind farms, and the LionLink (Netherlands) interconnector, from Suffolk where it is surplus to requirement down to Kent closer where it will actually be used. The energy never needs to come to Suffolk in the first place it is a detour that simply increases National Grid’s profits.

2. The Better Solution

Sea Link would be unnecessary if offshore grid principles were followed, pooling energy offshore and taking it subsea, directly from wind farms and pooling platforms to brownfield landfall sites closer to the demand for power in the South East, London and the Thames Valley, where it will actually be used. We have previously been told by National Grid at a meeting that Sea Link would cost c.£1.8bn, which makes Sea Link an obscenely expensive, destructive and unnecessary white elephant (READ SEAS ‘Accelerating Britain’s Net Zero Transition’ HERE).

3. Development Consent Order (DCO)

Sea Link has been through non-statutory, statutory and additional public consultations and has now reached DCO stage (read SEAS responses to the Additional Consultation Aug 24 HERE and to the Nov 24 project update HERE).

In approximately March 2025, there will be a Development Consent Order (DCO) examination into whether National Grid should be allowed to proceed with Sea Link proposal. This is a legal approval process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) under the Planning Act 2008, including planning permissions, compulsory purchases and environmental permits, and involving consultations with stakeholders, including local authorities, statutory bodies, and the public, to assess the project’s environmental, social, and economic impacts. The case is examined by the Planning Inspectorate, which makes recommendations to the DESNZ Secretary of State, who then has the final decision.

See an outline of the DCO process HERE (thank you to Kent Wildlife Trust for these diagrams). The timetable has not yet been published, we expect things to kick off in March.

4. What you can do:

What will be key is for as many people as possible to register as an Interested Party (IP). The Inspectors will add up the numbers and compare with other DCO Examinations as part of assessing impact. We would hope and expect that for Sea Link there will be many hundreds of IPs.

Everyone in the area/region can register and each resident across the wider region from Southwold to Orford, from Halesworth to Woodbridge and beyond should sign up as an INTERESTED PARTY (IP) to register their OBJECTION for the SEA LINK DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER (DCO) EXAMINATION.

THIS IS ADVANCE WARNING. We don’t yet have the timetable. The moment to sign up will be announced soon and we will alert you. It could be in February or March.

Once the timetable has been published, registering as an IP should be quick and simple. We will also publish tips on what to prepare in advance and the need to focus on what matters to each of you individually. If you are not already on our Newsletter mailing list please sign up asap HERE.

We will also ask you in due course to write letters to key decisions makers concerning the Sea Link DCO and will let you know about this shortly.

5. What is at risk – Last Chance Saloon

If Sea Link is given consent, it opens the floodgates to multiple projects coming here. SEAS is promoting alternative solutions which use EXISTING BROWNFIELD SITES CLOSER TO LONDON (READ our Great British Offshore Grid HERE). 

Even though National Grid was given consent to build its substation at Friston, a crucial factor for any connections to the grid, it is questionable if that permission was granted for multiple projects. It was only given at the time for SCOTTISHPOWER EA1N and EA2, both wind energy projects. These other projects (Sea Link /LionLink) are for transmission, not for energy generation.

6. Why we can win – Best Chance Yet

We believe this Sea Link DCO is our best chance yet to stop the avalanche of National Grid proposals (that if approved) will irrevocably damage this part of Suffolk. In particular, if we can stop this project, it will also stop a possible second Sea Link being brought onshore next to the first (rumoured), plus help stop the LionLink project and potentially even undermine the case for the planned substation at Friston.

The cumulative impact of all these projects is now an inescapable fact. The projects are in the public domain. They were not disclosed by disingenuous National Grid during the Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) examinations for EA1N/EA2 and were therefore not considered by the Inspectors. This is a key difference this time round (compared to the JR vs SPR), we can present the total onslaught including Sizewell C, LionLink, solar farm projects proposed, energy/battery storage projects and more. 

There are significant adverse impacts including traffic gridlocks, no go zones, loss of tourism, job losses, at least 15% year on year tourism economic decline (estimated c.£1bn over 12 years), long-term damage to ecology, destruction of vital wetlands, the very environment that net zero efforts should be saving. 

Furthermore, Sea Link and its costs would be redundant if the excess energy does not come to Suffolk Coast in the first place, but goes direct to brownfield sites closer to demand. This is no longer a virtuous discussion about green energy and meeting net zero targets but an argument about developers exploiting protected environments and farming land, because it’s the cheapest, most profitable means for their shareholders, of expanding their energy import/export capacity. 

The Inspectors must hear from individual Interested Parties (IPs), Councils and Community Groups what is really at stake and what is going on behind the greenwashing and shameless National Grid PR. We think the hard evidence is now in the public domain and can for the first time be presented fully. That is why we judge this moment to be the best chance we have to convince the DCO Inspectors and Government. 

Our legal counsel has endorsed the view that we have additional PERSUASIVE arguments to make this time round.

7. ALL THIS COSTS MONEY WE NEED YOUR HELP

We need to raise funds to enable us to make a robust attack on Sea Link and give us the best chance at the DCO Examinations. Defeating Sea Link is critical in terms of resisting future developments. In order to make a well-argued case we need professional assistance to produce reports relating to the multiple issues.

Professional specialists have now been appointed to prepare detailed submissions for the DCO in the following sectors: Flood risk / Noise / Traffic flows-roads / Tourism / Ecology / Heritage / Landscape / Mental health / Location selection / Cumulative impact. Over the next month these studies will be completed ready for legal counsel review ahead of the DCO.

We need your financial support NOW
We need to raise at least £100,000 to mount a professionally organised and targeted campaign to oppose the Sea link Development Consent Order (DCO), expected to be launched in March (see a breakdown of how SEAS will spend this money below). 

Many supporters have already donated generously to this cause during the last five years. Every pound will help. We are grateful for every donation however large or small.

DONATE NOW

Please donate now to Suffolk Energy Action Solutions Ltd.

1. BACS / Bank transfer:

This is our preferred option as it avoids all fees

Account name: Suffolk Energy Action Solutions Ltd.
Sort Code: 08-71-99
Account Number: 10504940

When paying online please put your full name as reference with the BACS details.

2. Via Go Fund Me

You might find this easier if you have an account or for smaller amounts but a c.2.9% fee is taken by the platform.

Click HERE to donate via the SEAS GoFundMe page

3. How will SEAS spend the money
In order to make a well-argued case we need first class legal counsel and
professional assistance to produce reports relating to the multiple issues:

• Legal counsel relating to wider issues, including cumulative impact: £45,000
• Road access, traffic gridlock analysis and forecasts: £15,000
• Ecology assessment: £10,000
• Flood risk, noise, heritage, landscape assessments: £12,000
• Other professional assistance relating to Advocacy and Engineering submissions: £15,000
• Mental health anxiety tracking measurements: £3,000

4. Our accountability to you
We are as always grateful to our supporters and are keen to give opportunities for greater engagement. We commit to regular reporting as well as the provision of a forum for questions and for contributing ideas to the campaign.

Click HERE for information on how SEAS operates and will report to you.