Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits providing support for an offshore energy grid rather than the new overhead powerlines and pylons proposed as part of the East Anglia Green Energy Enablement project.

Private network operators, in this case National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), are responsible for delivering network infrastructure necessary to meet consumer needs. This includes identifying preferred options for the infrastructure, considering a range of factors.

In the case of East Anglia Green, NGET recently published a letter to MPs outlining the total estimated lifetime costs of the onshore route, costing £1,136m, and the equivalent offshore option, costing £7,332m. Given the Secretary of State’s role in the consenting process for nationally significant infrastructure, no assessment has been made by the Department which would prejudice the outcome of the independent planning processes.