A summary of our approach
Our job is to connect people to the energy they use – whether that’s to heat and light their homes, or to keep factories and offices going. This puts us at the heart of one of the greatest challenges the UK faces – how the country will meet its ambitious low carbon energy targets and connect new sources of clean energy to supply our communities.
We have to balance a number of key issues in our development of new transmission lines. In particular, we must try to keep costs down for the consumer; and we have to consider how we can minimise the visual impact of our grid infrastructure on the landscape by the way we route our lines or the type of technology we use.
Our commitment
As the UK builds a new generation of new green power sources – whether from nuclear, wind and other renewables, gas or clean coal – our job is to connect this power to the electricity network and carry it to where it will be used.
These new power sources are often in places where there are not many existing power lines, so new connections will be needed.
Deciding where and how to build new lines is complex. Most of the existing network is made up of overhead lines, as these provide the most cost effective way of transporting electricity around the country. But we understand the concerns about the visual impact of the new transmission lines that are now needed.
Following an extensive consultation, which took place between December 2010 and July 2011, we have developed a new approach to the design and routeing of new electricity transmission lines. Using this process, we will place greater emphasis on mitigating the visual impact of our infrastructure as part of our planning applications. This is consistent with Government policy, which has recently been set out in the National Policy Statements.
We have no preference for overhead or underground solutions for any of our projects. Our approach is always to work with all our stakeholders and local communities to find the right balance between keeping costs down for consumers with the need to minimise the visual impact of these new lines. This assessment will be done on a case by case basis to ensure that local considerations are fully understood and accounted for.
Further information