Where is this happening?

The way we generate electricity in the UK is changing rapidly, and we are transitioning to cheaper, cleaner and more secure forms of renewable energy such as new offshore windfarms. 

We need to make changes to the network of overhead lines, pylons, cables and other infrastructure that transports electricity around the country, so that everyone has access to clean electricity from these new renewable sources. These changes include a need to increase the capability of the electricity transmission system between the North and the Midlands, and between the Midlands and the South. It is also needed to facilitate the connection of proposed new offshore wind, and subsea connections between England and Scotland, and between the UK and other countries across the North Sea. 

Our Grimsby to Walpole proposals are part of The Great Grid Upgrade.

Our first stage of our public consultation aimed to introduce you to National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), explain why an upgraded grid requires work in this area and outline our early proposals for a new electricity transmission line between a new substation at Grimsby and Walpole, along with three further new substations along the route. 
 

We are proposing to build a new high-voltage electricity transmission line and associated works between a new substation at Grimsby West in North East Lincolnshire and a new substation in the Walpole area, in Norfolk. We are also proposing two new connection substations near the Lincolnshire coast and a new substation at Weston Marsh in Lincolnshire.

During our first stage of public consultation, we are sought views on: 

• the emerging preferred corridor within which the overhead line may be routed 
• potential locations for the proposed new substations
• our work to date to identify where the proposed reinforcement might be located.

We are committed to listening to your views and will consider these alongside planning policy, technical assessments and environmental surveys as we develop more detailed proposals. Your feedback provided during our first public consultation will help inform our more detailed proposals, which we will be presenting and consulting on during a further consultation in 2025. Feedback will be carefully considered as we further shape our proposals and we will report on that when we make an application to the Secretary of State for permission to build, operate and maintain the new assets.

For further details on our approach to our first public consultation, please see our Consultation Strategy. All documents published as part of this consultation, including the Project Background Document and related technical documents, can be found below.
 

Our public consultation 

We want to ensure that all stakeholders and communities are engaged in the development of our proposals and have the opportunity to comment on the proposals at key decision-making points. From 18 January 2024 to 13 March 2024, we held our first stage of public consultation to: 

• introduce National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and our proposals to you 
• explain why we must build new electricity transmission infrastructure in this area and what technology is the best to use 
• outline the work carried out to identify our emerging preferred route corridor and graduated swathe 
• ensure all stakeholders have the opportunity to provide feedback on our work to date and hear your views about where within our emerging preferred corridor and graduated swathe the exact route could be located, and how we should approach building this vital infrastructure 
• outline next steps to the programme, and show how we will further develop our proposals. 

Our proposals will support The Great Grid Upgrade transition, the largest overhaul of the grid in generations make sure the grid is ready. 

The energy industry plays a key part in this transition, from developing renewable energy generation technology to upgrading the existing transmission network to allow communities across the country to benefit from this clean energy.

Decarbonising the energy system and delivering cheaper and more secure energy supplies is one of the biggest challenges facing our world. 

The UK is in the middle of a transformation, with the energy we use increasingly coming from cleaner, greener sources. In 2019, for the first time since the industrial revolution, most of our electricity came from low carbon sources. NGET is at the heart of that energy transformation – investing around £1.3 billion each year to adapt and develop our transmission network to connect new sources of low carbon and green energy to our homes and businesses. 

NGET and the Government recognise that it is also important to keep the impact of the energy transition as low as possible on bills, people, communities and our natural environment. National Grid is committed to finding the right balance between these factors to ensure our projects have a sustainable, positive impact.

The UK already has 14.7 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy in operation. The Government’s recent British Energy Security Strategy outlines the ambition to increase energy from offshore wind to 50 GW by 2030 – more than enough to power every home in the UK. In Powering Up Britain, the Government explains that the grid needs to be expanded at an unprecedented scale and pace to deliver more clean power and increase our energy security.

Delivering the infrastructure needed to achieve this ambition will boost local economies, provide jobs and opportunities to learn new skills, and bring vital investment to communities right across the country.

Grimsby to Walpole will support the UK’s net zero target by reinforcing the electricity transmission network in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, and facilitate the connection of planned offshore wind generation, battery storage/solar, interconnectors with other countries and subsea links to Scotland, allowing clean green energy to be carried on the network.

The reinforcement is needed because our existing power lines do not have sufficient capacity for all the new sources of electricity that we expect to connect to the network over the next 10 years and beyond. 

Our proposals include building a new 400,000 volt (400 kV) overhead electricity transmission line, new 400 kV substations at Grimsby West and Walpole, together with three new connection substations in Lincolnshire for planned new offshore wind generation, battery storage/solar, interconnectors with other countries and subsea links to Scotland. 
 

Consultation information

Details of all our public information events and where you could to find more information during our first stage of public consultation can be found below. 

You can sign up to receive project updates directly to your inbox by contacting the Community Relations Team by emailing [email protected] or calling 0800 0129 153.  

Virtual exhibition room

You can find out more information about our proposals for Grimsby to Walpole, as presented during our first public consultation, in our virtual exhibition room. Click here to enter.