Plans to put around 400 pylons between Norfolk and Lincolnshire face strong opposition
Around 6,000 people have signed a petition against the proposals
Plans by the National Grid to put around 400 pylons between West Norfolk and Lincolnshire are facing strong opposition from campaigners - with around 6,000 signing a petition against the proposals.
In January plans were announced for them to be put across an 87 mile stretch of countryside from Grimsby to Walpole in Norfolk.
The ambitious project, billed under The Great Grid Upgrade, is recognised as the most extensive grid overhaul in generations, with the firm asserting its urgent need to connect new green energy sources to the grid.
The current plan involves a new 400,000-volt electricity transmission line, new 400 kV substations at Grimsby West and Walpole, and three additional connection substations, with an estimated cost of around £2.03 billion.
It's understood that two of these substations are planned to be situated near the East Lindsey village of Alford on private land.
National Grid has also confirmed that a subsea alternative would cost significantly more, around £4.39 billion, while underground cabling would escalate to about £6.54 billion.
A spokesperson for the company explained: “This new electricity network reinforcement project in Lincolnshire is part of The Great Grid Upgrade and is needed urgently to connect new green energy to the grid.
“This will help meet the Government’s ambition to connect up to 50GW of offshore wind by 2030, so every home and business in Lincolnshire and beyond can be powered by clean, green and more affordable electricity."
"Intrusive"
Andrew Malkin is from the 'No Pylons Lincolnshire' group - he says there are alternatives:
"We think the offshore option is the one that is the least intrusive. It's the one we favour.
"We don't necessarily favour undergrounding because that would be massively disruptive to farming in Lincolnshire, as would the overland route.
"Anything you plant in this land will grow. So it's sugar beet, it's potatoes, it's cereals, it's brassica.
"One of the farmers said to me to cover that land with a substation or solar farms would be sacrilege, because we need that land for growing food.
"Down here there's no hiding pylons. Because we've no hills, no mountains, we've no valleys, we've barely any trees.
"It's all farmland, because the farmland is so valuable. So you will see them for miles around.
"We think the energy we need, the clean green renewable energy we need can be generated offshore and come onshore by undersea cables at the closest point it needs to be to connect to the grid."
The National Grid have held the first stage of public consultation into the plans - it closed yesterday.
What does National Grid Say?
A spokesperson for National Grid said:
“The electricity upgrade between Grimsby and Walpole is essential in the government’s ambition to connect 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 and is part of a wider programme to upgrade the entire network.
"We have assessed offshore and underground options for Grimsby to Walpole but at approximately four times more expensive for offshore and up to approximately six times more expensive for underground cables, this would be at significant extra cost to consumers across the country and would not align with the regulatory requirements placed on us.
"We are very grateful to everyone who has shared their views with us so far. Feedback from local communities and stakeholders is vital as this, along with the results of surveys and assessments carried out by the project team, will inform our work as we develop the project further.”