What is Proposed?
Sea Link would create a new 2GW high-voltage electricity connection between Kent and Suffolk.
Approximately 122km of the connection would consist of subsea high-voltage direct-current cables between the two counties.
In Kent, however, Sea Link would also require new onshore infrastructure.
Starting at Pegwell Bay and moving inland towards Minster, this page explains what National Grid proposes to build and how the different parts of the project would connect together.
The cable would come ashore at Pegwell Bay
The Kent landfall for Sea Link would be at Pegwell Bay, immediately alongside Cliffsend.
This is where the offshore cables would transition towards the onshore part of the electricity connection.
National Grid is not proposing to excavate an open cable trench directly through the saltmarsh.
Instead, it proposes to use trenchless construction techniques at the landfall to pass beneath sensitive areas.
A transition joint bay approximately 800 metres inland would provide the point where the subsea cables connect to the underground onshore cables.
Although trenchless construction would reduce direct surface disturbance through some of the most sensitive areas, works would still be required within the intertidal area of Pegwell Bay to install the marine cables.
The intertidal area is the part of the bay which is exposed at low tide and covered by the sea at high tide.
The former hoverport would be used for access
The former hoverport sits immediately alongside Cliffsend and Pegwell Bay.
National Grid is not proposing to construct permanent Sea Link infrastructure on the former hoverport.
It does, however, propose to use the site to provide access to the intertidal works at Pegwell Bay.
Construction vehicles, plant and personnel would therefore cross parts of the former hoverport to reach the areas where work associated with the marine cables would take place.
The hoverport would also remain available for occasional access in the future if maintenance of the cables within the intertidal area was required.
National Grid's plans for this access changed during 2025 after it identified that the extent of saltmarsh at Pegwell Bay had expanded further than previously recorded.
The revised arrangement uses a greater area of the former hoverport. National Grid says this allows vehicles to avoid travelling on or close to the saltmarsh habitat.
Those changes were accepted into the DCO Examination in December 2025.
Underground cables would continue towards Minster
From the Pegwell Bay landfall, the connection would continue underground towards Minster.
National Grid proposes approximately 1.7km of underground high-voltage direct-current cable between the transition joint bay and the proposed converter station.
Construction would require temporary working areas and construction access along the route.
Once installed and the land reinstated, the cables themselves would remain underground.
A new converter station would be built near Minster
At Minster, National Grid proposes a major new 2GW converter station.
The electricity transmitted through Sea Link would use high-voltage direct current (HVDC).
The existing national transmission network uses alternating current (AC).
The converter station is therefore required to convert the electricity between the two systems.
National Grid's proposals allow for the Kent converter station to be up to approximately 28 metres high, in addition to external equipment such as lightning protection and other electrical infrastructure.
A new permanent access would also be provided from the A256.
Unlike the underground cables, the converter station would be a substantial permanent addition to the landscape.
A new substation would be built alongside it
National Grid also proposes a new electricity substation immediately adjacent to the converter station.
The purpose of the substation is to connect Sea Link into the existing high-voltage electricity transmission network.
That requires further changes to the existing overhead lines around Minster.
Changes to the overhead electricity network
National Grid proposes to remove approximately 2.2km of existing overhead electricity line.
It would then construct approximately 3.5km of new overhead line to connect the new Minster substation to the existing Richborough-to-Canterbury transmission network.
Sea Link would therefore involve both the removal and construction of pylons and overhead lines around the Minster area.
What would happen during construction?
The permanent infrastructure is only part of the project.
If Sea Link receives consent, delivering it would require several years of construction.
This would involve construction compounds and working areas, access routes, haul roads, plant and machinery, HGVs and other contractor vehicles, material storage and temporary works affecting parts of the surrounding landscape.
National Grid currently expects construction to begin in 2027 if consent is granted, with the overall programme running to approximately 2031.
For Cliffsend, this means the construction arrangements around Pegwell Bay, the former hoverport and the roads used to access those areas will be particularly important.