August 22, 2016 3.26 pm This story is over 91 months old

Lincolnshire County Council voices concerns over new undersea energy proposals

Lincolnshire County Council has raised concerns over plans to import electricity from Denmark to the east coast of the county. Viking Link is a National Grid proposal to build a high voltage Direct Current (DC) electric interconnection between Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire and the substation Revsing in southern Jutland, Denmark via undersea cables. If plans…

Lincolnshire County Council has raised concerns over plans to import electricity from Denmark to the east coast of the county.

Viking Link is a National Grid proposal to build a high voltage Direct Current (DC) electric interconnection between Bicker Fen in Lincolnshire and the substation Revsing in southern Jutland, Denmark via undersea cables.

If plans go forward, it will be one of the longest DC interconnections ever built and will provide enough energy to power millions of homes.

Following a period of public consultation, National Grid has announced its preferred locations for a landfall point at a site adjacent to Sandilands Golf Club, while it is proposed that the converter station be located within the parish of Donington.

However, Lincolnshire County Council have concerns over the practicality of the project.

Councillor Colin Davie, Executive Member for Planning at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “While we continue to have concerns about the impact of Viking Link, particularly when combined with the Triton Knoll proposals, we have to be realistic.

This project is very likely to happen, so we need to work with National Grid to make sure the final proposals minimise the disruption to residents, businesses and visitors as far as possible.

“We’ve fully engaged in the consultation process, and are pleased to see that National Grid has taken our comments on board.

“We feel the sites they have selected are the probably the best of those on the short-list.

“We’ll continue to fully participate in the discussions around the project, including those relating to the preferred route, to make sure we find the solution that best manages the impacts on our local communities and our environment.”

Oliver Wood, National Grid Viking Link Project Director, said: “Local opinion played an important part in deciding where to bring the cables ashore and the location for the converter station.

“We selected these sites after carefully considering all the information provided by local people during our public consultation in the spring, along with environmental and technical information.

Both sites were chosen because it was felt they offered the best opportunities to minimise disturbance to local communities and the environment.

“Now we would urge people to have their say in helping us to find the best route for the two underground cables.

“Viking Link will help provide our country with a secure supply of affordable electricity and help us move towards more renewable and low carbon sources of energy but it means building new equipment.”