East Anglia pylons: Study to explore offshore route feasibility

The government has agreed to fund a study into the viability of using offshore cabling to connect two windfarms to the national grid.

An MP said, if successful, it would mean there would be no need to lay cables under countryside or construct pylons in Essex.

Campaigners said the study could force National Grid to reconsider plans for new pylons between Norwich and Tilbury.

The windfarm developers said the study should report in March next year.

The government has promised National Grid and the developers of the North Falls and Five Estuaries windfarms up to £11.7m of funding.

They will then see if it is possible and financially viable to develop a design which would link the windfarms and use underwater cabling, rather than onshore pylons, to carry power.

Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin hailed the news a "victory for north Essex".

"If successful, this could remove the need for pylons and undergrounding of cables through the Stour Valley, round the north of Colchester and back, and for the new massive substations at Ardleigh," he said.

"It does however raise the question, why haven't these alternatives been considered before?"

The proposed pylons and substation for Essex are part of a bigger plan to connect energy from a number of new offshore windfarms to the National Grid.

It has prompted large protests from people in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, worried about plans for a 112-mile long (180km) power line from Norwich to Tilbury.

Rosie Pearson, one of the campaigners against the plans, said the announcement about funding for the study was "a very, very good start".

"We think this means that National Grid will have to go back to the drawing board and review their plans altogether," she said.

A spokeswoman for National Grid said the Norwich to Tilbury power line is not part of the consortium that has been awarded funding.

"Separately, the electricity system operator is reviewing whether offshore coordination would have an impact on Norwich to Tilbury and if this should change, we would, of course, review and engage with impacted communities," she said.

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