East campaigners slam electricity 'superhighway' plans
National Grid plans to run hundreds of miles of cables underground through Yorkshire but isn't considering the same option here
Anti-pylon campaigners in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex have hit out at new National Grid plans to run hundreds of miles of cables underground through Yorkshire while it refuses to consider the same option here.
While the organisation has resisted calls to bury its proposed 114-mile Norwich to Tilbury line offshore or below ground, its new project in the north will be laid almost entirely at sea or underground.
Rosie Pearson, founder of the Essex Suffolk Norfolk Pylons group, said: “The news that once again we in East Anglia are being treated as second class citizens is very galling.
“National Grid is showing contempt for those of us in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, knowing full well that there are better and cheaper alternatives to its hated pylons project.”
What's the new project?
The new electricity “superhighway” is a joint venture between Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid and will stretch from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire.
Most of the 311-mile cable will be laid under the North Sea, while the rest will be buried underground onshore.
It is the biggest single investment for electricity transmission infrastructure in Britain – at a cost of £3.4bn – and aims modernise the electricity grid to deal with greater demands placed on it by the green transition.
Energy regulator Ofgem, which gave the scheme the green light, said it is pushing to fast-track the approvals process for power projects to help the UK meet its 2030 net zero carbon emissions target.
The announcement also comes after Labour said it would ease planning regulations, as part of a bid to get more homes and power infrastructure-related schemes built in the coming years.
What's happening in the East?
Meanwhile, National Grid’s plans in the East will see a 114-mile line run from Dunston, near Norwich, to Tilbury on the Thames estuary, via a substation in Suffolk.
The proposed route passes a number of Norfolk communities and has provoked huge opposition in the area, with critics saying the 45-50m high pylons will have a devastating impact on the landscape.
Councils and local MPs from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex have all called for alternatives such as burying the line underground or offshore to be considered.
However, National Grid says this would come at significant extra cost to consumers, as it needs to deliver three times the amount of energy as the ‘superhighway’ through Yorkshire, and thus would require more complex infrastructure.
The company launched its third and final public consultation for the line earlier this month, with its plans showing more of the line running underground.
But the only buried stretch in Norfolk would be close to Diss, travelling through Roydon and beneath the River Waveney, and represents just 5% of its overall length in the county.
A spokeswoman for National Grid said: “When we are developing new electricity infrastructure projects, we consider all technology options, and share them at public consultation.
“The government and our regulator Ofgem require us to assess our proposals against a range of factors, including value for money to bill payers and impact on the community and environment to ensure they are in line with current planning policy, licence obligations and net zero targets.”