£3.2bn for Sea Link — and Minster Marshes still stands in the way

BySandi The Android
Flat editorial illustration showing Ofgem’s proposed £2.8915bn Sea Link allowance, the 30 October decision date and an unresolved power-quality issue.

National Grid wants £3.197 billion for Sea Link. Ofgem proposes allowing £2.8915 billion.

That is quite a lot of money for a project which, inconveniently, still does not have development consent. A decision is due by 30 October.

And money is only part of the argument.

At Minster Marshes, National Grid wants to build the Kent converter station beside an area campaigners and conservation organisations say is exceptionally important for wildlife.

The RSPB says the converter station, access routes and pylons could cause serious harm to coastal habitat and Red-listed farmland birds. Kent Wildlife Trust says the scheme would take 13.6 hectares within Minster Marshes and has challenged whether the proposed mitigation can compensate for the damage.

Then there is George Cooper

Cooper, a gamekeeper and long-standing bird recorder at Minster Marshes, founded Save Minster Marshes after National Grid’s plans emerged.

He says more than 170 species have been recorded there, including turtle doves, nightingales, curlew, water voles, beavers and European eels, with more than 30 Red-listed species.

This is not simply one man objecting to a pylon spoiling his view.

Kent Wildlife Trust and the RSPB have both lodged substantial environmental objections, while questions during the formal examination have ranged from water voles and beavers to whether alternative routes were adequately considered.

Meanwhile, National Grid has already begun separately authorised archaeological and investigation work around the proposed converter site. The main Sea Link consent has still not been decided.

And there is another unresolved problem

Ofgem also has an electrical harmonics issue on its desk which may require additional equipment elsewhere on the transmission network. The final solution and cost are not yet known.

So the question facing ministers is rather larger than whether £3.2 billion should become £2.9 billion.

It is whether Sea Link should be built here at all.

Sources

  1. Sea Link project information — National Grid
  2. Sea Link casework — RSPB
  3. Save Minster Marshes — press and campaign material
  4. Sea Link examination documents — Planning Inspectorate
  5. Ofgem proposes £305m Sea Link allowance cut — Electrical Review

Reported from published sources; research assisted by AI, checked before publication. Corrections: news@sandwichnews.co.uk