Overview
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), part of the National Grid Group, is proposing a new high-voltage transmission line and associated works between a new substation at Grimsby West in North East Lincolnshire and a new substation in the Walpole area, in Norfolk.
They are also proposing two new connection substations near the Lincolnshire coast and a new substation at Weston Marsh in Lincolnshire. These proposals will interact with Cambridgeshire within the electoral division of Roman Bank and Peckover, Fenland.
The scheme will be determined by the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). This project is part of the Great Grid Upgrade.
Latest news
On Thursday 9 April 2026 NGET launched a targeted Statutory Consultation for the English onshore elements of the proposed Eastern Green Links 3 and 4 (EGL 3 and 4) projects and Route Section 7: Walpole B Substation (“Route Section 7”) of the Grimsby to Walpole Project. The consultation will close at 11:59pm on Monday 11 May 2026.
The EGL 3 and 4 projects and the Grimsby to Walpole project are being consented separately. There is, however, some infrastructure which is being included within the consents for both projects. This includes the new Walpole B Substation and associated infrastructure, environmental mitigation, and additional land required to build the projects. To streamline engagement with consultees, this targeted statutory consultation is being held jointly by both projects for these common areas in the Walpole area.
As part of this targeted statutory consultation, NGET are also consulting on some additional areas for the EGL3 and EGL 4 projects which are not in the Walpole area and do not overlap with the scope of the Grimsby to Walpole project.
Consultation documents can be viewed online via the document libraries of the EGL 3 and 4 project website and of the Grimsby to Walpole project website.
Overview
This project falls into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process defined through the Planning Act 2008 (as amended) and will be considered under Section 14 of the legislation because the proposal consists of the installation of an electrical line above ground.
Responsibility for accepting and examining the NSIP application rests with the Secretary of State and not the local authorities, who are identified as statutory consultees, or 'host' authorities, in the NSIP process.
Due to the scale of this project, there are 7 'host' authorities (Cambridgeshire County Council, Fenland District Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, Lincolnshire County Council, South East Lincolnshire Council Partnership, Norfolk County Council, Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council) involved in this NSIP project. The 7 'host' authorities will work together as far as possible to ensure full scrutiny of this project is undertaken.
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It is important to note that as the 'host' planning authorities are not the determining authorities, any correspondence in relation to this matter needs to be directed to the National Grid in the first instance and then the Planning Inspectorate.
For further details of the NSIP process for this project, please visit the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) website.
Details of the proposal for the Grimsby to Walpole transmission line, including any consultation events being held, are available on the National Grid’s website for this project.
Consultation
The first phase of community consultations took place between the months of January and March 2024. Local consultations were held at community centres in Wisbech and Walpole. This was a non-statutory consultation.
The second phase of community consultation, Statutory Consultation, launched on 11 June 2025 and closed on 6 August 2025. More information about this consultation, including documents which were shared, can be found on the National Grid’s document library for this project.
NGET have identified the need for additional land take since undertaking their statutory consultation in Summer 2025, and so are undertaking an additional targeted additional consultation. The consultation is running from Thursday 9 April 2026 until Monday 11 May 2026. The documents can be viewed online via the document libraries of the EGL 3 and EGL 4 project website and of the Grimsby to Walpole project website.
More information can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s webpage for this project.
