August 2025 News - DCO application submitted
On 29 August 2025, we submitted an application for a development consent order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate. This is a key milestone for the project and follows more than three years of public consultation on our proposals.
The Planning Inspectorate now has up to 28 days to decide if the application meets the required standards to be accepted for examination.
Click here to find the latest information on our application on the Planning Inspectorate's website.
If our application is accepted, our submission documents will be published on the Planning Inspectorate's website. This will include a Consultation Report providing responses to the feedback submitted during the 2024 statutory consultation and the targeted consultations earlier this year.
The Planning Inspectorate will then appoint an Examining Authority which will hold a six-month examination of our application. Local residents, landowners and our stakeholders will be able to register an interest so they can provide comments and take part in the examination period.
Following examination, the Examining Authority will prepare a detailed report along with its recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Secretary of State then has three months to decide whether to approve the application.
We expect the whole process to take around 18 months.
About Norwich to Tilbury
Norwich to Tilbury is a proposal to build a new 400 kilovolt electricity transmission connection for approximately 180 kilometres from the Norwich Main substation via Bramford substation, a new East Anglia Connection Node (EACN) Substation and a new Tilbury North Substation.
Our proposals are part of The Great Grid Upgrade – the largest overhaul of the grid in generations.
Why do we need Norwich to Tilbury?
East Anglia’s high voltage electricity transmission network was mainly built in the 1960s to bring power to supply regional demand, centred around Norwich and Ipswich. With new energy generation coming from offshore wind, nuclear power and interconnection with other countries, we need to upgrade the network here to carry the power to homes and businesses where it is needed.
Over the next decade we expect over 15,000 MW of new generation and 4,500 MW of new interconnection in the region.
This includes:
- new offshore wind farms connecting into Necton and Norwich
- Five Estuaries and North Falls offshore wind farms: both currently in development off the east coast and expected to be in operation by 2030
- Tarchon Energy interconnector: 1,400 MW interconnector between UK and Germany, proposed to connect at the Tendring Peninsula.
The high voltage electricity network in East Anglia doesn't have sufficient capacity at present to accommodate all this new generation.
You can read more about our proposals here.
Interactive map
We have produced an interactive map to show where we are proposing to build our project. The map shows the proposals that were published during our 2024 public consultation. Between January and April 2025 we consulted on some small changes. These changes aren’t shown on the interactive map. You can find more information on these changes in our document library.
We will update our interactive map if our application is accepted by the Planning Inspectorate.
View the interactive map of our proposals
This map shows our proposals along with existing 275 kV and 400 kV electricity infrastructure and related substations in the region. It does not show the lower voltage local distribution network.
Project timeline
