Suffolk communities to suffer from lack of energy project coordination

The interconnector is a new subsea cable, creating an electricity link with the Netherlands, and connecting to a Dutch offshore windfarm.

Should proposals go ahead, the impact on Suffolk will mean significant onshore construction work at Walberswick, a 26-metre tall converter station at Saxmundham, a substation at Friston, and underground cabling between all the sites.

Another National Grid energy project, Sea Link, is already planned to make landfall just a few miles down the coast at Aldeburgh.

In March 2024, National Grid published details to say that it has no intention to coordinate LionLink with the more advanced Sea Link project.

Suffolk County Council has long campaigned that both projects should share as much infrastructure as possible.

Councillor Richard Rout, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Devolution, Local Government Reform and NSIPs, said:

“The lack of coordination between National Grid’s own projects - LionLink and Sea Link - is startling. Landfall for LionLink at Walberswick is simply a bad decision.

“If two different council departments had the opportunity to work together to be more efficient and reduce their impact, but didn’t, we would rightly be hauled over the coals by taxpayers.

“Given the close proximity of both the LionLink and Sea Link projects, coordination between them should be paramount. But National Grid’s failure to do so means that we are now going to see irreversible damage to important landscapes in the county, and further suffering for more local people.”

The county council has raised such concerns on a number of occasions throughout LionLink’s consultation process in recent years.

It has made clear that any proposals where greater coordination between LionLink and Sea Link is not achievable, would require very robust justification. There should be a full assessment of increased levels of impacts across both LionLink and Sea Link.

Cllr Rout continues:

“Suffolk is at serious risk of suffocating under the sheer weight of proposed energy projects – whether it be the infrastructure from offshore projects, cabling routes, vast solar farms, or pylons.

“I believe much of this stems from the current government’s unrealistic target of decarbonising the grid by 2030. As such, decisions are being rushed through - like the Sunnica solar farm - without consideration for local communities, and ironically, the environment.

“More haste and less speed from the government would allow alternative solutions to be properly explored, and energy companies wouldn’t feel under pressure to push ahead with the easiest and cheapest options.

“Most disturbingly, government has still not published any guidance on how it plans to support the communities impacted by these energy projects. Our residents feel left in the dark with these schemes being forced upon them.”

Should LionLink press ahead with landfall at Walberswick, then the council is adamant that implications such as increased construction traffic, suitability of road networks and long core working hours are addressed.

These are the same critical concerns that the county council currently has with the Sea Link project.

The council’s long-standing position has been to support safeguarding the future energy security of the country, but not at the cost of local communities, their wellbeing, and the environment.

You can read the county council’s submissions to previous consultations for LionLink. National Grid Ventures expected to submit a Development Consent Order application in 2025.