EGL2 is a 505km electricity superhighway which will enable the transfer of power from Scotland to England (and vice versa) via a subsea cable. This two-gigawatt high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable is connecting Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Drax in North Yorkshire and once operational, will carry enough electricity to power two million homes.

EGL2 will scale up the UK’s capacity to transport home-produced clean energy, predominantly from offshore wind, from where it is generated to where there is demand. By doing so it will increase the security, resilience, and stability of the UK’s transmission network.

At an investment of over £4bn, EGL2 is the largest ever single investment in the UK transmission system and will play a critical role in delivering the UK and Scottish governments’ clean power and energy security targets, supporting thousands of jobs across the country and boosting local and national economies.

This project is a major step forward in delivering the reliability and security of the UK's home-grown energy supply and will provide greater flexibility to balance electricity demand and supply, enhance energy resilience, and help us to future-proof the network against rising energy needs.

EGL2 is being delivered as a joint venture between SSEN Transmission and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). NGET owns and manages the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, and SSEN Transmission does the same in the north of Scotland. The two connection points of EGL2 fall within these operating areas.

Following final approval from Ofgem in August 2024, construction for EGL2 is now underway and the project is due to be operational in 2029.