A major upgrade to the UK’s energy grid has secured £1.35 billion in financing, positioning the North East as a key player in the country’s clean energy transition.
The funding, led by the National Wealth Fund alongside Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Lloyds, and NatWest, will support ScottishPower’s Eastern Green Link (EGL) project. The project involves building offshore electricity cables to transfer renewable energy from Scottish wind farms to England via the North Sea.
The initial phase will connect Scotland to County Durham, with a second phase planned to reach Lincolnshire. The upgrades aim to relieve bottlenecks in the grid that currently force wind farms to shut down and increase reliance on more expensive gas-fired power stations.
Around £600 million of the funding comes from the publicly owned National Wealth Fund, which was established to drive economic growth through decarbonisation and infrastructure modernisation.
This initiative is particularly relevant for high-energy-demand sectors such as data centres, housing development, and advanced manufacturing. By improving transmission capacity, the project is expected to reduce energy waste, lower electricity costs, and support business expansion across the UK.
