Next steps
We will now begin preparing the Development Consent Order (DCO) application for submission.
Over the coming months, we will take the following steps:
- Review feedback and ongoing work to see where we can improve the proposals.
- Consider how transport and construction activities can be managed to reduce effects on local people, businesses and recreation. Access to properties would be maintained during construction.
- Finalise the extent of tree and hedgerow clearance and set out how impacts will be managed, including reinstatement.
- Assess the visual impact of the connection and identify any additional mitigation required, such as landscaping or planting.
- Review the likely environmental effects of the connection and identify any mitigation needed.
Once the proposals are finalised, we will prepare our application and supporting documents. This will include an engagement document, setting out how we have taken feedback into account, and an Environmental Statement, outlining the likely environmental effects of the proposal.
The planning process
As the proposed electricity connection is longer than 2 km and crosses the Wales-England border, the project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008.
The Vyrnwy Frankton Connection project is therefore progressing through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process and is being developed in accordance with the relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, including recent reforms introduced by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025.
Developers of NSIPs must obtain a DCO before proposals can be constructed. The process includes consultation, environmental assessment and independent examination before a recommendation is made to the Secretary of State, who makes the final decision on the application.
Before submitting our DCO application, we have undertaken a programme of consultation with local communities and stakeholders. Since launching the project in 2023, we have completed three rounds of consultation:
- September 2023: Non-statutory Consultation
- February 2025: Statutory Consultation
- February 2026: Targeted Statutory Consultation
Feedback received throughout the consultation process has helped inform and refine the project’s proposals. We are now taking account of all responses as we prepare our DCO application for submission.
What happens next
Once the proposals are finalised we will prepare the application and the supporting documents. This will include an engagement document that explains how we’ve taken feedback into account, and an Environmental Statement to explain the likely environmental effects of our proposal.
When our proposals are finalised, we will make a formal application for a DCO to the Planning Inspectorate.
Submitting our application is the start of an independent review process that typically takes around 18 months. The planning framework ensures that the local community has clear opportunities to put comments forward to the determining bodies alongside our application:
*Submission: Once we submit our DCO application to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), it has 28 days to decide whether the application contains sufficient detail to be accepted for examination. At this stage, PINS will also seek the views of local authorities on whether the consultation undertake has met the legal requirements.
*Pre-examination: If the application is accepted, PINS will appoint an independent inspector, or a panel of inspectors. This is the Examining Authority. Anyone with an interest in the project can register as an Interested Party and take part in the examination process.
*Examination: The examination formally begins the day after a Preliminary Meeting, at which the Examining Authority sets out how the examination will be conducted. Over the following six months, the proposals will be examined in detail, with Interested Parties able to provide written submissions and, where required, participate in hearings.
*Decision: After the examination closes, the Examining Authority has three months to prepare a report and recommendation for the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Secretary of State then has a further three months to decide whether to grant or refuse development consent.
From the point of submission, the entire process typically takes around 18 months.
Project timeline
September - First public consultation
Second and statutory public consultation
Targeted Statutory Consultation
Submit our Development Consent Order for review
Earliest the application would be decided
Construction begins if the project is consented
Vyrnwy Frankton connection is operational