Latest update
Following the submission of our application for development consent in April 2025, future updates about the Examination of our submitted plans will be available on the Planning Inspectorate's website.
As a result of further technical and survey work, along with continued engagement with stakeholders, we have identified a series of small changes we propose to make to our plans. Despite these proposed amendments, the majority of our plans for Sea Link remain unchanged. We have now written to relevant stakeholder and residents living near to the changes we are proposing. Further details of these changes can be found in our Document Library.
If you have any comments on the changes, you can provide your feedback to us via email or by post. The deadline for responses if 23:59 on Friday 7 November 2025.
Should you wish to give further feedback, please do not include comments that you may have given previously about other aspects of our proposals or the principle of the project as a whole. These comments have already been considered as part of the Consultation Report included in our development consent order application or will be addressed as part of our response to the relevant representations which have been previously received.
Only comments or feedback related to the proposed changes will be considered as part of this consultation. All feedback relating to the proposed changes received will be report on in an addendum to our Consultation Report.
Notice of Upcoming Hearings
The first set of Examination Hearings for Sea Link's application for development consent will be held between Wednesday 5 and Thursday 13 November 2025.
To see the full hearings notice for more details please see here.
Hearing dates and locations
| Date/Time | Hearing | Location |
Wednesday 5 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Preliminary meeting | By virtual means using Microsoft Teams only. |
Wednesday 5 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 13:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 13:30 Hearing starts: 14:00 | Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Wednesday 5 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 17:00 Registration and seating at venue open from: 17:00 Hearing starts: 17:30 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Thursday 6 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Thursday 6 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 13:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 13:30 Hearing starts: 14:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Thursday 6 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 17:00 Registration and seating at venue open from: 17:00 Hearing starts: 17:30 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Friday 7 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) | Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Tuesday 11 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) | By virtual means using Microsoft Teams only. |
Tuesday 11 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 13:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 13:30 Hearing starts: 14:00 | Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Tuesday 11 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 17:00 Registration and seating at venue open from: 17:00 Hearing starts: 17:30 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Wednesday 12 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Wednesday 12 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 13:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 13:30 Hearing starts: 14:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Wednesday 12 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 17:00 Registration and seating at venue open from: 17:00 Hearing starts: 17:30 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Thursday 13 November 2025 Virtual registration process begins at: 09:30 Registration and seating at venue open from: 09:30 Hearing starts: 10:00 | Continuation of Open Floor Hearing 2 (OFH2) | Discovery Park Visitors Centre, Innovation House, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9FF and virtually by Microsoft Teams. |
Those wishing to participate virtually or in person will need to register in advance with the Planning Inspectorate. If you wish to attend in person to observe, you will need to register in advance with the Planning Inspectorate. A virtual option to observe will also be available through the Planning Inspectorate website for members of the public.
About Sea Link
As the demand for energy increases, the project is designed to deliver renewable and low carbon energy efficiently to homes and businesses across the regions and beyond.
The cable would be predominantly offshore, with new onshore infrastructure to bring the power from the subsea cables into and out of the electricity network in both Kent and Suffolk.
To bring the power from the subsea cables into and out of the electricity network, we would need to build new onshore infrastructure including converter stations, substations and new underground and overhead electricity lines, as well as upgrading existing overhead electricity lines.
Power will be able to flow along the Sea Link cables in either direction, depending on where renewable energy is being generated at that time and where in the country power is needed.
National Grid does not yet have permission to build Sea Link. A decision on the development consent order application is expected to be made by mid-2026. More information on the application and next steps is available on the FAQs section of our website.
Why we need to build Sea Link
The existing electricity network in both Kent and Suffolk needs upgrading. This is because the UK’s electricity grid was originally built in the 1960s to connect electricity generated in power stations from fossil fuels, such as coal, from the North and Midlands of England and South Wales.
As the UK moves away from fossil fuels and increases clean energy generation, which is largely offshore, we need to connect electricity in new places.
Demand for electricity is also expected to increase by 50% by 2035, and double by 2050, as we decarbonise the energy that’s used for things like heating and transport.
Therefore, significant new infrastructure is needed to connect this clean energy from where it’s now generated to homes and businesses.
The project programme
2022 - 2024
Pre-application public consultations
March 2025
Submission of application for development consent
2025 - 2026
Examination of application for development consent
Late 2026
Decision expected on application
2026-2031
Construction works (if the project is approved)
Contact the team
If you have any questions or comments about Sea Link, please get in touch by emailing [email protected], by calling 0808 134 9569 or by writing to Freepost SEA LINK.
Sea Link is just one of several electricity network reinforcements that are needed to ensure the electricity transmission network is fit for the future. To read more about he Great Grid Upgrade, please click below.
The Great Grid Upgrade
What's energy resilience got to do with movie marathons? Find out how – and why – we’re connecting more clean energy to power the things you love.