North London Reinforcement (NLR) project

Traffic management:

To ensure the NLR project upgrades are carried out safely, we are implementing strategic traffic management and short-term road closures. Click here to learn more about our traffic management measures, including their locations and timings.

Overview

The North London Reinforcement (NLR) project will ensure London and the surrounding area is connected to new and future renewable energy that is being generated by offshore wind, solar and other sources around the country, keeping up with the capital’s increasing energy demand. The NLR project was approved in May 2014 by the Secretary of State and Government as part of the target to connect 50GW of offshore wind by 2030. Further increases in demand across the network have led to the project being brought forward as part of the Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) programme.

Additionally, this project represents a significant investment to guarantee energy security for the future. As the UK moves away from fossil fuels and increases clean energy generation, we’ll all be using more electricity than ever before. This means we need to build new infrastructure, as well as upgrading the existing grid, to make sure this clean, green energy can be brought from where it’s generated to where it’s needed by homes and businesses.

The North London Reinforcement project is part of The Great Grid Upgrade (TGGU). TGGU is the largest overhaul of the electricity grid in generations and will play a significant part in meeting the UK Government’s plans to power all homes and businesses with green energy by 2030.

For the latest updates on work in these areas, click on the relevant location below:

Overhead lines upgrades
Substation upgrades

What the work involves

The NLR project will see work being conducted on the existing overhead line between Pelham substation and Hackney substation. The project will involve replacing the existing 275kV overhead line with a 400kV overhead line to enhance the line's capacity, allowing more electricity to flow to the homes and businesses that require it.

These overhead line upgrades will be happening from the Pelham substation, Hertfordshire, to Waltham Cross substation in Epping Forest, through Enfield to the Tottenham substation in Haringey and onto the Hackney Substation.

To support the overhead line upgrades, there will also be associated works to the substations at Pelham, Rye House, Waltham Cross, Brimsdown, Tottenham and Hackney.

By reinforcing the network between Pelham and Hackney, there will be a number of benefits:

Ensure the reliability of energy
Deliver affordable energy
Increase the supply of energy generated from renewable sources

Our work so far

Initial vegetation clearance took place in 2024 at Pelham and Waltham Cross substations. Construction commenced in 2025, with works taking place in phased intervals across the route until a completion date in 2028.

Timeline

Please see the timeline of our plans below.

Date	Activity
January 2024 – April 2025	Enabling works at substations across NLR project. Enabling works are preparatory activities such as vegetation clearance, fencing installation, temporary access tracks, and scaffolding construction. These steps are necessary before the main substation upgrades and overhead line improvements can begin.
March 2025 – September 2025	Enabling works for overhead line replacement across the NLR project.
April 2025 – November 2025	Outages and reinstatement works for overhead line replacement across the NLR project. Outages are where specific sections of the line are temporarily switched to allow work to take place. These planned outages will not affect electricity supply to homes and businesses in the surrounding area. Reinstatement works are the final phase where temporary installations (access tracks, fencing, etc.) are removed and the work areas are restored to their original condition.
Early 2026 - Spring 2027	Upgrades to substations along the NLR line. Upgrades works at substations will vary, from the installation of new supergrid transformers, or the reconfiguration of towers on the substation site to enhance efficiency and capacity.

What's happening in your area?

We'll be upgrading existing power lines and substations throughout the NLR project. The NLR project route runs from Pelham (Hertfordshire), through Waltham Cross (Epping Forest), Enfield, Tottenham (Haringey), and finally to Hackney. Explore the map below for more details about what’s happening in your area.

Map of the North London Reinforcement Project