Energy regulator Ofgem has approved a £3.4 billion electricity transmission project to carry power from offshore windfarms between Scotland and Yorkshire.
Approval for the 500-kilometre grid connection, which is a joint venture between National Grid PLC (LSE:NG.) and SSE PLC (LSE:SSE)’s SSEN, was confirmed on Tuesday.
This will see a largely subsea cable placed between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax Group (LSE:DRX)’s North Yorkshire power station.
“Today's announcement is a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place to speed up network regulation to achieve its aim,” Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley commented.
“Streamlining the [approval] process does not mean blank cheques for developers as we are able to step in and make financial adjustments.”
Ofgem added the additional grid capacity will avert the need to ask generators to wind down production, after costs of doing so have soared in recent years.
The project is set to see the largest single investment in Britain's electricity infrastructure to date and will take power to around two million homes.
Construction will start this year, according to the energy regulator, before the project is completed in 2029.