This bird's-eye view photograph shows how fields on the edge of Norwich are being transformed as a huge electrical substation takes shape.

Two fields next to the A47 southern bypass, close to the village of Swardeston, have been dug up to pave the way for the substation.

Danish energy company Ørsted is building an onshore converter station on the land, which will take power generated by the Hornsea Three wind farm set to be built off the Norfolk coast.

Eastern Daily Press: The converter station will take power from Ørsted's Hornsea Three offshore wind farmThe converter station will take power from Ørsted's Hornsea Three offshore wind farm (Image: Ørsted)

The Swardeston site, east of the village's Main Road, is where power, brought to shore along cables laid in a 35-mile-long trench across Norfolk, will be converted so it can be fed into the National Grid.

The Planning Inspectorate granted permission for that converter station in 2020, while South Norfolk Council agreed, earlier this year, that large industrial batteries to store energy can be installed on part of the site.

That was despite concerns raised by Swardeston Parish Council and Nigel Legg, who was, at that time, South Norfolk district councillor for the area.

Eastern Daily Press: Nigel Legg, former South Norfolk district councillorNigel Legg, former South Norfolk district councillor (Image: Submitted)

They were worried about the fire risk of the lithium-ion battery technology which would be used and the visual impact of the development.

Ørsted representatives said, when the plans were approved, that the company had worked closely with Norfolk Fire and Rescue Services over the technology and it was "not in anyone's interest" for there to be an incident at the site.

The offshore wind farms have caused controversy among communities which will be affected by the work.

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Scores of parish councils had urged the government to refuse planning consent.

Controversy has also surrounded plans for miles of pylons to carry power generated from wind farms once it has been converted for the National Grid.

National Grid wants to build a major new 112-mile 400kV power line - including over a swathe of south Norfolk - from an expanded main electricity substation at Dunston, near Swardeston, down to Tilbury on the Thames estuary.