Power generated by 86GW of offshore turbines will be carried from Scotland — with the risk of hundreds more pylons
Britain’s power network will need £60 billion investment in new offshore wind farms if it is to hit the government’s target to decarbonise the electricity system by 2035.
National Grid, the FTSE 100 company which is responsible for keeping the lights on, will unveil its plans on Tuesday.
It intends to connect up to 86 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2035, which on a windy day is enough to meet peak demand. It says 20,000 jobs will be created annually, of which 90 per cent will be outside the southeast of England.
The plans will, however, raise fears of hundreds of new pylons spoiling the countryside.
National Grid receives about £20 a year from each household bill as part of a transmission charge. These payments will finance the network upgrade.
Demand for electricity is set to rise by nearly two thirds over the next decade as people’s everyday lives, from increased smartphone usage to running an electric car, place more demand on the network.
To meet the government’s net-zero target, thousands of miles of new cabling will be required to move electricity from the sea and on to homes and businesses.
National Grid’s ESO division (electricity system operator) has recommended the creation of an “electrical spine”: onshore cables that will move a huge volume of power between Peterhead in Aberdeenshire and Merseyside.
Although the route is yet to be determined, the cable is expected to run down the east coast then through the central belt of Scotland to the northwest of England. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/offshore-windfarms-investment-uk-net-zero-target-pwgnbfklb?fbclid=IwAR1R-wicskybMi4TJt1__ojgb4s_zGmGNdrA9wOGt–uiy3tkq3aJYBtvYo
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