West Burton to Ratcliffe-on-Soar - Refurbishment Project
As electricity generation changes across Britain, the grid must be strengthened and modernised. Through The Great Grid Upgrade, the largest upgrade of the electricity network in England and Wales for generations, we’re investing in projects to transport home-grown power reliably to the homes, businesses and public services that depend on it. These upgrades will support lower bills, stronger energy security, and new jobs across the region.
The existing infrastructure between West Burton and Ratcliffe-on-Soar was built in the 1950s and requires an upgrade to enhance network capacity and resilience between West Burton, High Marnham, Stoke Bardolph and Ratcliffe-on-Soar. We’ll upgrade approximately 100 kilometres of the existing high-voltage power lines to increase how much electricity they can carry. This will provide more secure,cleaner, home-grown energy from more affordable sources and meet increasing energy demand.
Our upgrade will also support a number of other important National Grid projects including the Brinsworth to High Marnham project.
Keeping you informed
We're committed to engaging with communities, landowners, and stakeholders while we carry out our work.
Our community relations (CR) team is on hand to answer any queries you might have.
Email: [email protected]
Freephone: 0800 073 1047 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5:30pm with an answering service in place outside of these times)
Write to us: FREEPOST NATIONAL GRID PROJECTS (JBP) - no stamp or further address is needed
What is West Burton to Ratcliffe-on-Soar?
We’ll soon begin work to refurbish a stretch of overhead line between West Burton and Ratcliffe-on-Soar.
We’ll install new conductors (wires) on pylons and replace insulators, fixtures and fittings. We’ll also replace the existing underground cables at our substations at West Burton and Ratcliffe-on-Soar.
We’ll lay temporary access tracks and erect scaffolding and temporary construction compounds, so construction works can take place.
The refurbishment won’t involve the construction of any new pylons, and our work won’t disrupt anyone’s electricity supply.
Project timeline
We expect to start refurbishment of the first section of the existing circuit between Ratcliffe-on-Soar and Stoke Bardolph in summer 2026.
Our contractors will begin vegetation clearance for this section around February 2026. They’ll work under the watch of an ecologist to ensure clearance is kept to a minimum.
We are planning to refurbish the other sections during 2027. This includes West Burton to High Marnham, High Marnham to Stoke Bardolph and Cottam to Staythorpe. We anticipate that we’ll complete the refurbishment along the entire route in 2028.
We’ve instructed our appointed land agent, Ardent Management, to engage with parties whose land may be affected.
How will these works affect me?
We’re committed to minimising any potential disruption to the local community wherever possible. It’s likely we’ll need to temporarily close some footpaths and local roads, and introduce some traffic management measures, with the permission of Nottinghamshire County Council, the Local Highways Authority, to keep our teams and the public safe as we work.
We’ll share updates with areas likely to be affected and will also install signage in the area to keep the local community informed.
Compulsory Purchase Order
On 12 February 2026 National Grid Electricity Transmission plc (“National Grid”) made The National Grid Electricity Transmission (West Burton to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Refurbishment Project) Compulsory Purchase Order 2026 ("the CPO”) to enable it to compulsorily acquire the land and land rights necessary to refurbish infrastructure between West Burton, High Marnham, Stoke Bardolph and Ratcliffe-on-Soar.
National Grid are continuing to engage with all known affected landowners and, where required, the occupiers, to discuss the required land and land rights as well as the proposals to deliver the project. We will continue to negotiate in a collaborative and positive manner to conclude voluntary agreements with these parties. 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 the land and 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 which is included in the CPO. This notice will also be published in local newspapers circulating within the vicinity of the land. Site notices have also been erected at intervals in or near to the land included in the CPO.
A copy of the made CPO and the maps that show the land included in the CPO are available below and at the following locations:
- Ruddington Library: Church Street, Nottingham, NG11 6HD
- Radcliffe on Trent Library: New Road, Nottingham, NG12 2AJ
- Retford Library: 17 Churchgate, Retford, DN22 6PE
- Collingham Community Partnership Library: 71 High St, Newark-on-Trent, NG23 7LB
- Newark Library: Beaumond Gardens, Balderton Gate, Newark-on-Trent, NG24 1UW
- Tuxford Community Partnership Library: West Mobile, Kirkby in Ashfield Library, Ashfield Precinct, Kirkby in Ashfield, NG17 7BQ
- Tuxford Community Partnership Library: North Mobile, Worksop Library, Memorial Avenue, Worksop, S80 2BP
Further information and guidance on the compulsory purchase process can be found here.
If you’d like more information about the CPO, please contact National Grid’s appointed land agent, Ardent, using the contact details below:
Telephone: 0203 092 3162
Postal: Ardent West Burton to Ratcliffe-on-Soar Refurbishment Project Team, 36-38 Botolph Lane, London, EC3R 8DE
Email: [email protected]
CPO documents
A - CPO and related documents
B - Evidence
Frequently asked questions
The Great Grid Upgrade is the largest overhaul of the electricity network in generations, helping to connect more low-carbon, home-grown energy to homes and businesses across England and Wales. It will play a key role in the UK’s transition to clean energy, ensuring the grid can carry increasing amounts of secure electricity from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.
As electricity demand grows and reliance on fossil fuels reduces, a stronger grid is essential. By the end of the decade, The Great Grid Upgrade will boost the UK’s energy self-sufficiency, support more than 55,000 jobs, and contribute £14.5bn a year to the UK economy.
Our refurbishment work will mean we can continue to provide a safe and reliable supply of electricity to homes and businesses in the area for years to come.
The refurbishment is essential to relieve expected network constraints caused by increased electricity generation in the region. Uprating the infrastructure means we can safely and reliably increase the system’s capacity, to provide a safe and reliable supply of electricity to homes and businesses in the area for years to come.
We’ll carry out our work in stages, beginning at Stoke Bardolph and moving south towards Ratcliffe-on-Soar. So, if you don’t see us, please don’t worry – it just means we’re working at another point along the route.
We carefully consider potential environmental effects to ensure we minimise any possible impacts on the environment as far as possible.
"National Policy Statement EN-5 (Electricity Networks), the Holford Rules, Section 38 and Schedule 9 of the Electricity Act (1989) and National Grid’s own Stakeholder, Community and Amenity Policy, all seek to avoid routing overhead lines through such areas of “highest amenity value.”
In particular, Section 38 and schedule 9 of the 1989 Act outline that the licence holder:
(a) shall have regard to the desirability of preserving natural beauty, of conserving flora, fauna and geological or physiographical features of special interest and of protecting sites, buildings and objects of architectural, historic or archaeological interest; and
(b) shall do what they reasonably can to mitigate any effect which the proposals would have on the natural beauty of the countryside or on any such flora, fauna, features, sites, buildings or objects."
An ecologist will carry out environmental surveys around the pylons before we start work to establish if there are protected species on-site and if there are any special measures or restrictions, we need to put in place to safeguard plants and wildlife. We’ll undertake an extensive reinstatement programme after we’ve completed our work.
Typical working hours will be from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday. We ‘ll also work alternate weekends (Saturday and Sunday) between 7am and 5pm once works start. During the main refurbishment, we may sometimes need to work outside these hours to ensure we finish on schedule, but we’ll do all we can to keep this to a minimum.
Accessibility
We’re committed to making our project information accessible to all users. If you need any information in an alternative format such as large print, Braille or audio tape, please get in touch using the contact details above.