Thank you to our neighbours for their understanding and support whilst our supergrid transformers have been delivered. For further updates please contact our community relations team.
We are extending our substation at Harker, which will help to increase network capacity between Harker and the Scottish Border whilst boosting energy security.
A significant investment is being delivered in Harker with construction work progressing. Once complete, the extension will measure around 55,000 square meters, which is the equivalent to approximately 8 full-size football pitches.
The extension works will ensure that our site in Harker is prepared for future demand, as more electricity is set to be generated from renewable energy sources, which need to be connected to the electricity network. The extension will provide space for new customers to connect to the grid, ranging from battery, solar and wind energy. Omexom Taylor Woodrow (OTW) is carrying out this work, on behalf of National Grid.
The project will provide additional network capacity to accommodate the new energy that is set to be generated, so Harker can continue to serve as a critical point on the UK energy network, connecting supplies between Scotland and England.
The main construction work started on site in 2024, and we anticipate that works on site will be finished in early 2029.
An important part of our project has involved upgrading overhead line between Harker and the Scottish Border. On behalf of National Grid, Morgan Sindall has upgraded more than 90 km in total.
To find out more about how we are working with the local community during the project please visit https://www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/infrastructure-projects/harker-substation/community
To see how our works are progressing, watch the video below, covering site progress between September 2025 and December 2025.
Key milestones for the project include:
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Latest project update
Substation extension
Site works are progressing well with construction of the new substation nearing completion and key pieces of equipment now installed on site.
We have removed the 132 kV pylon from the centre of the site. The pylon was felled in a controlled manor by ENWL (Electricity North West Limited) contractor Aureos.
The pylon was owned and operated by ENWL. The electricity circuit which previously ran through this pylon has been diverted into the existing substation whilst our extension works take place. Once completed, this circuit will be transferred into ENWL's new 132 kV substation.
Supergrid transformers
Over recent months, six new supergrid transformers (SGTs) – each weighing 184-tonnes, the weight equivalent of 30 African elephants – have been successfully delivered to site, supplied by HD Hyundai Electric. The SGTs will improve resilience and support the distribution of power to homes and businesses in the area.
The vehicle carrying the equipment travelled from Heysham Port north on the M6 and M74 before turning southbound at Gretna Green (at Junction 22 on the M74) and travelling back down the M74/M6 southbound, using the disused southbound slip road from the M6 to travel past the main substation before entering the site.
We understand multiple deliveries of this nature can be disruptive to the local community and would like to thank the local community for their patience and cooperation whilst these have taken place. The benefit to these deliveries taking place now is disruption to the wider community will be reduced as the project continues.
Overhead line upgrades
An important element of the project has involved adding new wires to the existing pylons between Harker substation and the Scottish Border. This work has now been completed by our contractors Morgan Sindall and it has meant that more power can be transported along the network. More than 90 km of overhead lines were upgraded in total. Alongside this, existing pylons have been refurbished and strengthened, with three new pylons added and two older pylons are being removed, which are no longer needed.
Project news
To find out more information about our work and what’s coming up, read our project newsletters.
- National Grid Harker Newsletter, June 2024
- National Grid Harker Newsletter, December 2024
- National Grid Harker Newsletter, June 2025
- National Grid Harker Newsletter, December 2025
Since the project began in early 2024, to February 2026, a total of 338,442 cumulative hours have been spent on the project by our contractors.
Apprenticeships at Harker substation
At Harker substation, we are committed to providing apprenticeship opportunities for young people. Since the project began, our main substation contractor OTW has:
- provided six-week placements for four people
- had five apprentices started work on site
- supported one full year placement
- been joined by two year out graduate engineers
Working with other projects
We are also looking to deliver another project in the region with SP Energy Networks called Cross Border Connection, which includes proposals to develop a new electricity connection between the England-Scotland border and the Carlisle area. Consultation took place in 2025. To find out more, please visit: www.nationalgrid.com/electricity-transmission/network-and-infrastructure/infrastructure-projects/cross-border-connection
SP Electricity North West
SP Electricity North West (SPENW) has been working on their project to build a new 132kV substation and relocate existing pylons. This will allow for the new connections to SP Electricity North West’s 132,000-volt network.
For further information visit the project website www.enwl.co.uk/about-us/networkinvestment/cumbriaring/harker/
Have your say
National Grid is committed to engaging with communities at every stage of the project. Our dedicated community relations team works with local residents, businesses and community groups to ensure our work causes as little disruption as possible.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss the project in further details, please contact our community relations team using the contact details above.
Frequently Asked Questions
We agreed a settlement with Ofgem regarding historical management of civil assets at our Harker 132 kV substation.
Their investigation covered the period 2016 to 2021. Repairs at the substation and changes to how we manage these assets were complete by 2022.
Through this project, a major programme of investment at Harker began in 2024 to rebuild and upgrade the entire site, including replacing the existing substations with two new substations adjacent to the current site.
Archived
Section 37
As part of our work to refurbish the existing pylons and add new conductors to the overhead lines that run between Harker substation and the Scottish Border, National Grid Electricity Transmission plc (NGET) has submitted two Section 37 (S37) applications to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Works are proposed in two locations, on the V route at tower V28 and at tower AL68 on the AL route north of Harker.
Further information can be found in the documents below. Comment on this application should send particulars of such to DESNZ, 3-8 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2JP or via email to [email protected], identifying the name of the overhead line and the comment or grounds for objection. Please also copy all comments to [email protected].
If you have any queries, please contact our community relations team via the details below.
Documents
Compulsory purchase order
On 28 September 2023 National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc (“National Grid”) made The National Grid Electricity Transmission (Harker Energy Enablement Project) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 ("The CPO”) to enable it to compulsorily acquire the land and rights necessary to construct and operate additional infrastructure and increased capacity from Harker Substation to the Scottish border.
National Grid are continuing to engage with all known affected landowners and, where required, the occupiers, to discuss the required rights and proposals to deliver the project. We will continue to negotiate in a collaborative and positive manner to conclude a voluntary agreement. Where National Grid has a completed agreement in place, it does not expect to need to rely on the CPO. Our preference will always be to secure land rights on the basis of voluntary agreement with affected landowners/occupiers.
A copy of the notice confirming the making of the CPO has been served on all those with an interest in the land who were included in the CPO. It has also been published in the local newspaper and erected at intervals across the land included in the CPO.
A copy of the confirmed CPO and the maps that show the land included in the CPO are available.
The public local inquiry into The National Grid Electricity Transmission (Harker Energy Enablement Project) Compulsory Purchase Order 2023 (the Order) that was due to open at 10am on Tuesday 5 March 2024 at Warwick Mill Business Village, Warwick Bridge, Carlisle, Cumbria CA4 8RR pursuant to Rule 11 of the Compulsory Purchase (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 2007 (as amended) has been cancelled by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. This is because all remaining objections to the Order have been withdrawn and the public inquiry is no longer necessary.
On 1 August 2024 the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed the Order with minor modifications (see documents listed below). This was publicised on 19th August 2024, at which point the Order became operative.
Further detail on the compulsory purchase process can be found in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Guidance on Compulsory Purchase Process and The Crichel Down Rules (July 2019), which is available to view and download for free online at GOV.UK.
If you’d like more information about the CPO, please contact National Grid’s appointed land agent Bruton Knowles using the contact details below:
Telephone: 0161 327 2771
Postal: NGET Harker Energy Enablement Project, C/O Bruton Knowles, 1 Roebuck Lane, Sale, Manchester, M33 7SY
Email: [email protected]
CPO documents
A – Legislation
B – Guidance and policy
C – Planning permissions and related documents
D – CPO and related documents
E – Objections
F – Miscellaneous
G – Evidence
Contact us
Telephone: 0800 319 6165 (Monday to Friday, 9am – 5:30pm)
Email: [email protected]
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