Taking part in our consultation
We want to introduce our proposals at an early stage, explain how they have been developed, and invite your feedback.
We are seeking feedback from local communities, their representatives and key stakeholders early in the project development process to ensure that feedback and local knowledge influences our proposals as they continue to be developed.
Our Stage 1 consultation is running from 12pm Tuesday 23 June until 11:59pm Tuesday 21 July 2026 and is open to anyone with an interest in our proposals.
Click here to complete our online feedback form.
About Western Link 2
Western Link 2 is a joint proposal between National Grid and SP Energy Networks for a new High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) offshore connection between Scotland and Wales.
Western Link 2 would reinforce the transmission network, carrying electricity both to and from Scotland and Wales. With this flexibility we would strengthen the UK’s energy security, support home-grown renewable generation and help balance supply and demand as the energy system changes.
Interactive map
You can view our proposals on our interactive map here, which shows our proposals as a whole.
The Great Grid Upgrade
The Great Grid Upgrade is the largest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations. Across Wales and England, our projects are helping to connect more affordable sources of home grown and renewable energy to homes and businesses.
As the UK moves away from fossil fuels, we will all rely on electricity more than ever before. The demand for electricity is set to double by 2050 as the way we power our homes, businesses, industry and transport changes. We need to upgrade the grid now to ensure we can meet this increasein demand.
In Wales, the Great Grid Upgrade will deliver the infrastructure needed to meet this challenge. Projects such as the Pentir to Trawsfynydd reinforcement and Western Link 2, will modernise and strengthen the transmission network.
Through projects like these the Great Grid Upgrade will allow more clean, home grown energy to be carried from where it is generated, to where it is needed.
By enabling more renewable electricity produced in Wales and across the UK to flow across the network, the Great Grid Upgrade will support cleaner energy for communities in every part of Wales, while improving energy security and reducing
reliance on imported power.
This investment will also bring benefits closer to home. Delivering major new energy infrastructure will support local economies, create jobs, provide new skills opportunities and represent long term investment in communities across Wales. A modern, resilient grid is essential to securing a cleaner, more affordable and reliable energy system for the future.
Our proposals
Western Link 2 will transport electricity via a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea cable from Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland, to a landfall location on the Gwynedd coastline.
From there, underground HVDC cables would route and connect to a proposed converter station near Pentir substation. The new converter station would then be connected to National Grid’s existing Pentir substation via a new High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) cable connection.
The project is being jointly developed by National Grid and SP Energy Networks, with each company leading on different elements of the project.
For this consultation we are asking for your views on the Welsh elements of the project only. SP Energy Networks is responsible for the Scottish elements of the project and carried out its first
consultation in November 2025.
At this stage we are looking for your feedback on the following offshore, nearshore and onshore elements of the project:
• approximately 195 km of new offshore HVDC cable, starting from the southern limit of Scottish territorial seas to the limit of Welsh nearshore area
• approximately 65 km of new HVDC cable within the Welsh nearshore area, to a new underground transition joint bay
at a landfall location on the Gwynedd coastline, at Caernarfon Bay
• a new underground transition joint bay at a location on the Gwynedd coastline, at Caernarfon Bay, where the new offshore HVDC cable will connect to the new onshore HVDC cable
• three options for potential landfall locations on the Gwynedd coastline (with one emerging preferred option identified)
• a new underground HVDC cable route of approximately 25 km from a landfall location on the Gwynedd coastline to a new converter station (presented as a ‘graduated swathe’ with the darker shaded area showing our preferred emerging cable route)
• two siting zone options for a new converter station in close proximity to the existing Pentir substation (with an emerging
preference for Pentir East zone), including a new short length of underground HVAC cable connection from the converter station to the existing Pentir substation
• an extension to the existing Pentir substation, for the purposes of connecting Western Link 2 to the existing transmission
network in Wales.
You can find more information in our Stage 1 consultation document, which is available to view here and in our document library.
Contact us
If you have any questions about our proposals for Western Link 2, please get in touch.
- Call our Community Helpline: 0800 156 0706 (Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5:30pm).
- Email us: [email protected]
- Write to us: FREEPOST W LINK 2 (no stamp or further address details are required)