While our existing high-voltage electricity network in Yorkshire has been sufficient until today, it doesn’t have the capacity to transport all the new low-carbon energy that we expect to come on line over the next 10 years while operating reliably and securely to the standards required.
We need to reinforce the region’s electricity network to address this and Yorkshire GREEN will strengthen the network here. It will play a vital role in delivering electricity efficiently, reliably, and safely and will support the UK’s move to reduce carbon emissions.
In Great Britain, we are in the middle of a transformation, with the energy we use increasingly coming from cleaner, greener sources. In 2019 – the same year that Parliament committed to the UK reaching a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 - most of our electricity came from low carbon sources for the first time since the industrial revolution. National Grid is at the heart of that energy transformation – investing around £1.3bn each year to adapt and develop our transmission network to connect new sources of low carbon and green energy to the homes and businesses of our customers.
While it's vital that more of the energy we use comes from low carbon and renewable sources, both National Grid and the Government recognise it's also important to keep the impact 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.
Great Britain already has 8.5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy in operation, and another 1.9GW under construction. The Government’s Energy White Paper outlines a plan to increase energy from offshore wind to 40GW by 2030 – enough to power every home in the UK.