Thursday September 4th 2025
The Dunbear just off the A1 in Dunbar
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Workers on a new £1.6 billion super highway project in East Lothian will be bussed to the site from a 230-vehicle car park on the edge of Dunbar.
Metlen Energy and Metals, who are involved in the construction of a substation and converter near Torness as part of the East Green Link Network project (EGL1), have applied to East Lothian Council for guidance on the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment on their transport plans.
The application reveals proposals for the car park which will also include cycle parking, bus stops and a new road connection will help manage traffic to and from the construction sites.
It says: “The car park will operate as a Park and Ride for staff working at Torness during the works related to the EGL1 project.”
It adds the work is expected to last for three years and adds the new car park, at Dunbar Business Park, near Spott roundabout off the A1, will include a new road connection from the industrial estate.
A planning application for the car park is expected to go online within days.
EGL1 is a two-gigawatt high voltage direct current electrical ‘super highway’ that will run from the Torness area in East Lothian, to Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, via the North Sea.
Groundwork has already begun on the creation of an onshore converter station which will connect to a new substation near Braxton.
The converter station is being built on land between Dunbar Energy Recovery
Facility and Dunbar Landfill by a consortium of GE Vernova and Metlen
Energy & Metals.
SP Energy who are overseeing the project have said the Eastern Link will make the North Sea a “hidden powerhouse” of Europe.
It estimates around 12km of underground cables will be required to link the new substation, converter station and landfall sites in East Lothian with 176km sub-sea cables linking Torness and County Durham sites.
A decision on the Environmental Impact Assessment need will be issued by planners in the near future.
Tweet Share on Facebook
