Labour has approved a net zero cable linking Kent and Suffolk despite fierce opposition from locals and warnings it will destroy wildlife areas.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, has given National Grid permission to construct the 86-mile-long Sea Link, a subsea cable that will transport electricity from wind farms on the Suffolk coast southward, where demand for power is greater.
It will run from north-east Kent's Pegwell Bay beauty spot, where National Grid plans to build a 100ft-high converter station and a substation on Minister Marshes, a nature reserve.
The cable would run north to the Suffolk coast, making landfall near the historic town of Aldeburgh, with six miles of onshore trenches to connect it to another converter station near Saxmundham.
The scheme has provoked opposition from local authorities and communities at both ends of the cable, with the RSPB and local conservationists also warning it will damage vulnerable wildlife sites.
Tristan Gale, a Reform UK county councillor in Suffolk, said he was deeply disappointed by the approval of the project, accusing ministers of ignoring local people and the environmental destruction the cable would cause.
Mr Gale said: "This decision sends a worrying message that communities can participate fully in the planning process, present extensive evidence and still see their concerns overridden."
Both Kent and Suffolk elected majority Reform councils in the last local elections, with large-scale energy developments a key issue for voters.
Sea Link is part of National Grid's "Great Grid Upgrade" project to make the UK's power networks ready for a future dominated by low-carbon generation, mainly wind, solar and nuclear.
Nationally, the upgrade is predicted to cost £70bn by 2030 and another £240bn by 2050 , with all costs added to bills. Sea Link will cost £3.2bn.
Richard Tice, Reform's energy spokesman, said: "It is better to have these link cables offshore than vast pylons onshore, but remember all this extra infrastructure cost is due to net zero. It never gets included when the eco-zealots pretend that renewables are cheaper than gas or nuclear generated electricity."
Sea Link is just the latest in a string of governmental approvals for massive energy developments in environmentally sensitive areas.
Labour's push for more renewables has, in the last month alone, seen approvals for the Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park near Newark in Nottinghamshire and Frodsham Solar plant in Cheshire.
Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said the Sea Link cable would "help bring bills down for good". He added: "Britain's future rests on rebuilding the national grid so renewable energy can connect ... reducing our exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets."
Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said: "Ripping up protected countryside and sending families the bill will rightfully enrage local people. Labour simply do not care what their net zero obsession costs.
"The Government must be transparent about the costs and demonstrate why this project is necessary before expecting the public to foot the bill."
Adrian Pierssene, the director of Sea Link at National Grid, said: "As homes, transport and businesses use more electricity, demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Sea Link will help the network carry more secure and home-grown power to where it is needed."
