The £3bn Eastern Green Link 5 will run mainly offshore for 550km from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire before making landfall at Anderby Creek on the Lincolnshire coast.

The 525kV high voltage direct current cable will be designed to carry up to 2GW of electricity – enough clean power for around two million homes.

The project forms part of the Great Grid Upgrade programme to strengthen the transmission network and move more renewable power from Scotland to demand centres in England.

From Anderby Creek, underground cables will run around 8-9km inland to a new converter station in East Lindsey.

National Grid is looking at sites north-east of Bilsby and north-west of Huttoft for the converter station.

A further underground HVAC cable will then link the converter station to the planned Lincolnshire Connection Substation-B, which is being taken forward separately under National Grid’s Grimsby to Walpole project.

National Grid will seek consent for the English offshore and onshore elements of EGL5 through a single development consent order application next year.

SSEN Transmission is responsible for securing consents for the Scottish elements of the project and Scottish waters.

EGL5 is being developed on a similar scale to Eastern Green Link 3 due to go for planning shortly. EGL1 and EGL2 are now under construction.

The link is part of a wider wave of grid investment aimed at easing north-south transmission bottlenecks and supporting the connection of major offshore wind projects.