Industry News

• Report urges investment to upgrade electricity grid

  14 Apr 2009

  A new industry report has revealed that investment of nearly £5 billion is needed to upgrade Britain’s ageing electricity grid network. In what will be the largest expansion of the grid since the 1960s, up to 1,000 km of new cabling will be required to connect new nuclear and renewable energy sources to the electricity grid.
  
  The report was published by the Electricity Networks Strategy Group, which brings together key stakeholders in the electricity supply industry to advise the government on energy issues. The group is jointly chaired by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and energy industry regulator OFGEM.
  
  

  The report recommends that an overhaul of the electricity grid network is needed in order to facilitate the ‘timely connection of new generation’ and the achievement of ‘ambitious renewable energy targets’. The grid upgrade will play an important role in helping the government achieve its commitment to generate 20% of national energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
  
  

  The report is the latest in a series of studies which form part of the Transmission Access Review (TAR), commissioned following the publication of the Energy White Paper in 2007. The TAR recognises that network access is regarded as a ‘barrier to entry for new generators, particularly renewable ones’ and that investment in the grid is necessary to support the delivery of 2020 targets.
  
  

  Energy and Climate Change Minister Mike O’Brien said: ‘This report marks the start of the electricity grid’s makeover to accommodate new low carbon power generation which is needed by 2020. This is a massive long-term investment opportunity and this upgrade work will help support jobs across the low carbon economy. Having a grid which is fit for purpose is vital for our ambitions to cut carbon emissions and increase security of supply.’
  
  

  The report concludes that work to upgrade the electricity grid will need to begin as soon as possible and, as such, it is ‘essential’ that there are ‘no significant delays in obtaining the necessary planning permissions’. Whether such delays are actually avoided remains to be seen, but the report does propose that planning applications ‘will be taken forward ahead of commitment from any individual generator’.