Public consultations for Suffolk renewable energy infrastructure projects, including Eurolink and Sealink, have received a good response with thousands attending to give their views. 

Since the end of October, electricity and gas company National Grid has been holding a series of sessions across east Suffolk to discuss the planned cables, which will take power generated by the proposed East Anglia ONE and TWO offshore wind farms to Kent and the Netherlands. 

Two eight-acre substations are being planned at Friston which will take some of the cabling from the two wind farms, stoking fears about the impact on the village and surrounding countryside. 

Eurolink refers to the subsea cable that will harness the increasing volumes of wind power generated in the North Sea and deliver the electricity to grids in Britain and the Netherlands. 

Sea Link aims to add additional capacity to the electricity network in Suffolk and Kent, enabling low carbon and green energy to power local homes and businesses and be transported around the country. 

Scottish Power Renewables is developing the wind farms which were granted development consent by the Government in March, but are currently subject to a judicial review. 

East Anglia ONE will be located 36km off the coast of Lowestoft and will provide 67 turbines, generators and associated infrastructure with a capacity of up to 800MW. 

East Anglian TWO will be 37km off Lowestoft and will provide 75 turbines, generators and associated infrastructure with a capacity of 900MW. 

Campaign group Substation Action Save East Suffolk (SASES) has been fighting the plans for the Friston substations. 

Michael Mahony, from SASES, said there had been a good turnout at the public consultation events for Eurolink and Sea Link, which have been held in Aldeburgh, Reydon and Dunwich among other places. 

He said: “My understanding is that the events have been well attended. In Friston, a good three-quarters of the people in the village and possibly more. Hundreds of people in the village have attended.” 

A National Grid spokesperson said: "The Eurolink and Sea Link non-statutory consultations are currently underway and have so far generated a lot of interest from the local communities, with over a thousand people attending events across both projects to date.

"We look forward to continuing to receive views on proposals for the projects, and we encourage local communities to attend the remaining in-person and online consultation events, as well as provide feedback via the range of other channels available.”