National Grid – East Anglia GREEN

East Anglia GREEN public consultation

The SPS believes that this project must be viewed in the context of existing and emerging Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects affecting the county. Suffolk is under siege by an invasion of new energy projects in a manner that is both unprecedented and uncoordinated.

These include the new Scottish Power Renewables substation at Friston, and the infrastructure to support Nautilus and Sealink Interconnectors which will create transmission links between the UK and Belgium, and Suffolk and Kent respectively. In addition, National Grid plans to upgrade the existing electricity transmission along 29km of its network from Bramford to Twinstead.  Furthermore, there is the prospective impact of Sizewell C in the east of the county and the rush of commercial scale solar farms, including the Sunnica development in the west. 

The SPS acknowledges the national need for renewable energy and its transmission, but calls for solutions that are better and greener, not just bigger and faster. At first reading, the East Anglia GREEN scheme could impact, to varying degrees, up to one in every eight towns and villages in Suffolk. 

We acknowledge the policy and legal framework in which these nationally significant schemes are considered, namely that the starting point is overgrounding, other than in designated and in some highly sensitive locations. However, we are gravely concerned by the reliance upon 70 year old technology and call for a greener infrastructure to support green energy.

Therefore, it is essential that in providing the public benefit of renewable energy to the nation that the amenity of affected communities in Suffolk is fully taken into account, the negative impacts properly mitigated and where appropriate compensation given.

As a result, the Suffolk Preservation Society is working with CPRE, the countryside charity, to meet with National Grid as a matter of urgency to address a range of key issues, including: 

• Proposals to mitigate the cumulative impact of National Grid energy infrastructure by consolidating rather than duplicating its projects 
• Proposals to boost biodiversity and environmental net gain along National Grid’s proposed GREEN route 
• National Grid’s compensation plans for communities for losses to their landscapes and amenities