Sandown Park Racecourse was the setting for the recent environment workshop for our gas and electricity transmission businesses. This event was the first in a series of activities, where our stakeholders help us build our business plans for the next regulatory period (RIIO-T2) starting in 2021.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the local consultation during the six years of planning this project. Their feedback had a significant influence on our final proposal and we look forward to continuing these relationships with local communities over the coming years. We assure residents that we will carry out the construction work responsibly and safely.
A little after 7am on 1 May, just outside Canterbury, two huge mobile cranes moved slowly into position. After months of preparation and planning, the lift for the final piece of the steel structure of the first of 60 pylons that will form the backbone of the Richborough Connection was about to begin.
Each pylon stands 47 metres tall and weighs about 25 tonnes. Engineers from the Murphy Ethel Joint Venture (MEJV), used over 5,000 steel parts to build the first pylon – a process that takes about a week from start to finish.
In summer 2019, National Grid will begin work on the construction phase of the LPT2 project, building 30km of cable tunnels stretching from Wimbledon in south west London to Crayford in south east London. The tunnels, which will be up to four metres in diameter, will largely be buried deep beneath the streets.
They are needed to replace three existing electricity circuits that are coming to the end of their life. The project is expected to take about eight years to complete.
Sometimes the most staggering engineering achievements are hidden from view. Deep beneath London’s streets a 32km network of tunnels snakes across the capital. It stretches from Hackney in the east to Willesden in the west and from Kensal Green to Wimbledon.
This is the London Power Tunnels (LPT) project. It is the most important addition to London’s electricity system since the 1960s. Since the scheme began in 2011 National Grid has built a total of 10 new underground transmission circuits which will initially carry up to 20% of the power needed in the capital.
The capacity on offer is a combination of new build and existing capacity which comes out of contract in 2025. The expansion will increase the size of the Grain terminal, located on the Isle of Grain in Kent, to approximately 1.2 million cubic metres.
Here in Electricity Transmission, we’re committed to making innovation part of everything we do. We use it to prepare for the emerging challenges facing our industry and to create more value for consumers and society in a rapidly changing world.
Our electricity transmission network does a vital job. It connects hundreds of customers and, ultimately, millions of homes and businesses to the power they need. But we want to improve our network. And we’re finding new ways to run it faster, cheaper, greener and more flexibly than ever.
At National Grid, we’re committed to being an innovative leader in energy management and to safeguarding the world around us for future generations.
We use innovation to bring forward new technologies and ways of working. This creates value for customers and consumers by cutting costs, improving efficiency, reducing environmental impact, maintaining reliability and improving safety.
The publication came out on top in the ‘best writing’ and ‘publication for stakeholders’ categories at the Institute of Internal Communications Gala Awards ceremony in London.
Regarding the best writing prize, the judges said: “The overall feel is that it is a publication for a community and speaks well to that community.”
Three workshops held by our Electricity Transmission Owner (ETO) business have been welcomed by our stakeholders as a good start to our engagement activities. We’ll use what we heard to focus further conversations with our stakeholders and shape our future business plans.