Yorkshire GREEN: Frequently Asked Questions

National Grid sits at the heart of Great Britain’s energy system, connecting millions of people and businesses to the energy they use every day. We bring energy to life – in the heat, light and power we bring to our customer’s homes and businesses; in the way that we support our communities and help them to grow; and in the way we show up in the world. It is our vision to be at the heart of a clean, fair and affordable energy future. Our individual companies run the systems and infrastructure that deliver electricity across the country. 

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) own, build, and maintain the electricity grid in England and Wales to which many different energy sources are connected. National Grid ESO (Electricity System Operator) control the flow of electricity around the country ensuring supply meets demand. National Grid Ventures (NGV) is the competitive division of National Grid, investing in energy projects, technologies, and partnerships to accelerate the development of our clean energy future.

We are working to build a cleaner, fairer and more affordable energy system that serves everyone – powering the future of our homes, transport and industry. We believe by acting now, the UK can become the world’s first major clean economy, creating growth and jobs for communities across Britain.  

National Grid is committed to supporting the delivery of a decarbonised energy system, working with the Government and regulators to help meet the net zero target by 2050 and working to achieve the supply of 50GW of offshore wind in the UK by 2030.

The UK is currently home to the largest operating offshore wind capacity in the world and there is substantial growth in offshore wind and interconnection capacity forecast for Scotland and the northeast of England. To ensure the UK network can accommodate this increased generation, National Grid needs to expand the capacity of its transmission system.

National Grid is committed to developing infrastructure in a way which minimises the impact on local communities whilst delivering the best value for consumers. To do this, we work closely with customers, partners and communities to develop solutions, supporting the transition to decarbonised, decentralised, smart energy systems.

National Grid’s statutory obligations are set out in the Electricity Act 1989 (the Electricity Act) and its Transmission Licence. 

We must develop and maintain an efficient, coordinated and economical transmission system in accordance with security and quality of supply standards. Increasingly, the energy we use is coming from renewable sources with the largest growth coming from offshore wind. Anyone can apply to National Grid to connect new generation in any part of the country, and we have a statutory obligation to respond with a connection offer. 

In planning new connections, we must consider the importance of preserving natural beauty and conserving flora and fauna and features of special interest, including sites of archaeological, architectural or historic interest. These obligations are defined under Section 38 and Schedule 9 of the Electricity Act as to ‘have regard to the desirability of preserving amenity’ and to do what we reasonably can to mitigate the potential impacts of our plans when we are working out how best to connect new generation to our network. Potential options to achieve a new connection are therefore evaluated against these statutory obligations.

We are regulated by Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets). Further information about Ofgem is available on its website www.ofgem.gov.uk or you can call the Consumer Affairs team on 020 7901 7295 or email [email protected].

The Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement (GREEN) Project is a proposal by National Grid that comprises of a major reinforcement and upgrade of the electricity transmission system in Yorkshire.

The Project is sited in Yorkshire, with the most northerly components located approximately 1.5km north-east of the village of Shipton and approximately 10km north-west of York city centre. The most southerly components are at the existing Monk Fryston Substation, located to the east of the A1 and immediately south of the A63.

The Project will comprise both new infrastructure – including approximately 7km of new overhead lines, some underground cables, sealing end compounds (to connect the lines and cables) and two substations – and works to existing transmission infrastructure and facilities.

In line with the UK government’s legal commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100% of 1990 levels (net zero) by 2050, growth in offshore wind generation and interconnectors to Europe has seen a significant number of connections planned in Scotland and coastal areas of the North of England.

The existing electricity transmission network was not designed to transfer the current and increasing volume of generation capacity from the North to major centres of electricity demand which continue to exist in central and southern England. The network will require significant reinforcement in Yorkshire to provide capacity for these connections and customers to ensure that power can be transferred securely to the needs of Great Britain electricity consumers.

Therefore there is an urgent need to deliver reinforcement in Yorkshire which will be achieved through the implementation of the Project.

As of Thursday 14 March 2024, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has granted development consent for the Yorkshire GREEN project. This follows the conclusion of the examination period in September 2023 and issue of a recommendation report by the Planning Inspectorate in December 2023.

There is now a six-week period in which the decision may be challenged in the High Court. Should no challenge be received, the construction period for the Project will commence later this year.

All archived project documents produced during our non-statutory and statutory consultations, along with community newsletters, can be found on our website.

Our full DCO application and documents submitted through the examination process can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website. Our application includes:

• A Consultation Report: this will summarise how your responses submitted to our consultation have been considered when developing our proposals; and
• An Environmental Statement: this sets out what environmental effects we believe our project would have and how we propose to minimise them.

More information related to the construction period will be uploaded to this website in due course. 

Following the granting of development consent by the Secretary of State in March 2024, we are expecting pre-commencement works to begin later this year. This involves setting up construction compounds, constructing bellmouths (an access point from the public highway for construction purposes) and other access works.

We are expecting our main construction programme to begin in 2024 and new infrastructure could be operational in 2027, with final works and reinstatement anticipated to be taking place by the end of 2028. More information on this, including more specific timings, will be provided in due course.

National Grid is committed to provide wider benefits for the local community in areas where we work. We run an existing Community Grant Programme in areas where we own and maintain the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales. The programme is aimed at community organisations and charities in areas where our work is impacting local people through our operations and construction activities.

Communities impacted by the maintenance of existing infrastructure (e.g. refurbishment of overhead lines or substations resulting in road closures and other impacts) can apply for grants of up to £10,000.

Communities impacted by construction work for new infrastructure projects (e.g. the building of new underground tunnels or a new substation resulting in a significant increase in heavy goods traffic, noise and other impacts) can apply for grants of up to £20,000.

For Yorkshire GREEN, eligible organisations in the affected area will be able to apply for our Community Grant Programme once construction is underway. More information will be provided in due course.

You can continue to get in touch with us using the details below:

• Website: nationalgrid.com/yorkshire-green 
• Email: [email protected] 
• Freephone: 0800 029 4359 
• Freepost: FREEPOST YORKSHIRE GREEN

If you are a landowner, have an interest in any of the land is affected by our Project, or if you have any questions relating to land interests in the area, please contact the Yorkshire GREEN Land Team at Fisher German using the following details: 

• Call us: 0845 437 7357
• Email us: [email protected]
• Write to us: YORKSHIRE GREEN, FISHER GERMAN LLP, Unit 2 Carolina Court, Lakeside Business Park, Doncaster DN4 5RA

We will be continuing our engagement directly with local communities before and throughout the duration of our works. This includes local residents, parish councils, community and local interest groups and elected representatives/councillors. As part of this engagement, we will notify stakeholders in the vicinity of our works about the construction activities upcoming in their area.