Other Permit Awarded

Durham County Council granted outline planning consent on 28 July 2023 for the English onshore elements of Eastern Green Link 1 under application reference 22/01663/OUT, originally submitted by National Grid Electricity Transmission in June 2022. The consent authorises the erection of a new 400 kV electricity substation and a HVDC converter station, together with the laying out of replacement public open space, on land to the west and south of Jade Business Park at Hawthorn Pit Grid Site, Murton (DH6 2RX), between the villages of Murton and South Hetton in County Durham. The new substation will be located approximately 50 m south-east of the existing Hawthorn Pit 275 kV substation. The consent was granted in outline, with reserved matters relating to permanent access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale to be addressed in subsequent reserved matters applications (one of which was subsequently submitted by RSK Environment on behalf of Murphy in July 2025 covering the substation element). The 2023 outline decision unblocked the English onshore construction programme and enabled the joint venture to progress detailed design, contractor procurement (Murphy as principal substation contractor, GE Vernova-MYTILINEOS for the converter station) and the compulsory purchase process for the cable corridor and converter site.