National Grid announces Walberswick as preferred landfall location for subsea cables as part of LionLink project

A Suffolk village has been selected as the preferred landfall location for subsea cables running between Britain and the Netherlands.

Today, National Grid has announced that an interconnector for the LionLink project will join land at Walberswick instead of Southwold.

It is hoped this route to the converter station in Saxmundham, which is more than 12 kilometres shorter than Southwold, would reduce overall environmental impact of the project and disruption for residents.

However, Suffolk County Council has warned it will have serious implications for coastal and inland communities as well as the environment.

The village was chosen following analysis and two consultations, the first of which took place in 2022, with the second in late 2023.

Should proposals go ahead, the county council said 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.

The authority said National Grid published details in March to say that it had no intention to coordinate LionLink with the more advanced Sea Link project.

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

Cllr Richard Rout, cabinet member for devolution, local government reform and NSIPs (Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects), 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.”

Ben Wilson, president of National Grid Ventures, said community feedback was essential to the evolution of the project.

The firm was committed to respecting and protecting the local environment and community while delivering a project that should strengthen the country’s energy security, he said.

Mr Wilson added: "We understand that people may have questions about the impact of this decision on their community.

“We are dedicated to engaging with residents, addressing their concerns, and providing clear information about how we will minimise disruption to their daily lives and the natural environment when we build this project.

“We look forward to hearing their views at the next public consultation at the end of the year.”

The potential locations for the landfall were announced in March last year.

The project is the result of a partnership between National Grid Ventures and Dutch energy operator TenneT.

LionLink forms part of plans to create a North Sea energy grid and will allow for the transfer of energy between the UK and the Netherlands.

National Grid believes this would mean fewer connections from the sea to the land and less impact on coastal communities.