New electricity power lines (Norwich to Tilbury)

National Grid owns and manages the high voltage electricity network in England and Wales, which connects homes and businesses to the energy they need.

The network was built in the 1960s, and now needs some work to reinforce the network and connect new sources of energy.

National Grid wants to build a 400kV electricity overhead transmission line in East Anglia, running from Norwich to Tilbury (originally called the East Anglia GREEN project). It also wants to build a new substation in Tendring to connect new offshore wind projects close to the coast. Part of the proposed new transmission line is planned to go through the rural north, west and south of Chelmsford.

You can read more about the project.

About the decision making process

The project is classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. This means the Secretary of State needs to approve it, through a Development Consent Order (DCO). We are a consultee in this process.

National Grid submitted an application for a DCO to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero on 29 August 2025.

The Planning Inspectorate accepted the DCO application for Examination on 26 September 2025.

We are a consultee on the DCO application and are not responsible for deciding it.

You can view Norwich to Tilbury Project Information on the Planning Inspectorate's website for details of the application and the decision-making process.

Local impact report

We will submit a Local Impact Report to the Planning Inspectorate during their examination. We will publish details of the report here once they are available.

Consultations

National Grid have run various consultations throughout the process, and will now be publicising their proposals.

You can find out more about via www.nationalgrid.com/norwich-to-tilbury.

We have submitted a formal response at each stage of the consultation. You can view the:

Further queries

If you have any queries, or wish to talk to someone about the consultation, you can contact National Grid or contact the Planning Inspectorate.