What is Proposed?
Page updated: 1st November 2026
Sea Link is a new 2GW high-voltage electricity connection between Kent and Suffolk, which was granted development consent by the Government on 30th October 2026.
Approximately 122km of the connection will consist of subsea high-voltage direct-current cables between the two counties.
In Kent, Sea Link will also require significant new onshore infrastructure.
Starting at Pegwell Bay and moving inland towards Minster, this page explains what National Grid has received consent to construct and how the different parts of the project will connect together.
Although development consent has now been granted, certain detailed construction arrangements and environmental measures are still to be finalised and approved before relevant works commence.
The cable will come ashore at Pegwell Bay
The Kent landfall for Sea Link will be at Pegwell Bay, immediately alongside Cliffsend.
This is where the offshore cables will transition towards the onshore part of the electricity connection.
The approved proposals do not involve excavating an open cable trench directly through the saltmarsh.
Instead, National Grid intends to use trenchless construction techniques at the landfall to pass beneath sensitive areas.
A transition joint bay approximately 800 metres inland will provide the point where the subsea cables connect to the underground onshore cables.
Although trenchless construction will reduce direct surface disturbance through some of the most sensitive areas, works will still be required within the intertidal area of Pegwell Bay to install the marine cables.
The intertidal area is the part of the bay which is exposed at low tide and covered by the sea at high tide.
The former hoverport will be used for access
The former hoverport sits immediately alongside Cliffsend and Pegwell Bay.
National Grid's approved proposals do not include constructing permanent Sea Link infrastructure on the former hoverport.
However, the site will be used to provide access to the intertidal works at Pegwell Bay.
Construction vehicles, plant and personnel will therefore cross parts of the former hoverport to reach the areas where work associated with the marine cables will take place.
The approved arrangements also allow for occasional future access if maintenance of the cables within the intertidal area is required.
National Grid's plans for this access changed during 2025 after it identified that the extent of saltmarsh at Pegwell Bay had expanded further than previously recorded.
The revised arrangement uses a greater area of the former hoverport. National Grid says this will allow vehicles to avoid travelling on or close to the saltmarsh habitat.
Those changes were accepted into the DCO Examination in December 2025 and formed part of the proposals subsequently considered through the consent process.
Underground cables will continue towards Minster
From the Pegwell Bay landfall, the connection will continue underground towards Minster.
The approved proposals include approximately 1.7km of underground high-voltage direct-current cable between the transition joint bay and the converter station.
Construction will require temporary working areas and construction access along the route.
Once installed and the land reinstated, the cables themselves will remain underground.
A new converter station will be built near Minster
At Minster, National Grid will construct a major new 2GW converter station.
The electricity transmitted through Sea Link will use high-voltage direct current (HVDC).
The existing national transmission network uses alternating current (AC).
The converter station is therefore required to convert the electricity between the two systems.
The approved proposals allow for the Kent converter station to be up to approximately 28 metres high, in addition to external equipment such as lightning protection and other electrical infrastructure.
A new permanent access will also be provided from the A256.
Unlike the underground cables, the converter station will be a substantial permanent addition to the landscape.
A new substation will be built alongside it
The approved project also includes a new electricity substation immediately adjacent to the converter station.
The purpose of the substation is to connect Sea Link into the existing high-voltage electricity transmission network.
This will require further changes to the existing overhead lines around Minster.
Changes to the overhead electricity network
The approved proposals include the removal of approximately 2.2km of existing overhead electricity line.
Approximately 3.5km of new overhead line will then be constructed to connect the new Minster substation to the existing Richborough-to-Canterbury transmission network.
Sea Link will therefore involve both the removal and construction of pylons and overhead lines around the Minster area.
What will happen during construction?
The permanent infrastructure is only part of the project.
Following the Government's decision to grant development consent on 30th October 2026, National Grid can now progress its preparations towards construction, subject to the relevant requirements and approvals.
Construction is currently expected to begin in early 2027, with the overall project scheduled for completion by approximately 2031.
The works will involve construction compounds and working areas, access routes, haul roads, plant and machinery, HGVs and other contractor vehicles, material storage and temporary works affecting parts of the surrounding landscape.
National Grid will also need to finalise certain construction arrangements, including traffic management and environmental protection measures, with the relevant authorities.
For Cliffsend, the arrangements around Pegwell Bay, the former hoverport and the roads used to access those areas will be particularly important.
Cliffsend Parish Council will continue to monitor these arrangements and raise concerns about potential disruption to residents and the surrounding environment as more detailed information becomes available.
Further information about the Government's decision is available through the official Sea Link Development Consent Order documents.