The project spans 57km in total between National Grid’s new Shurton substation on the Hinkley Point C site and its existing Seabank substation in Avonmouth. 48.5km is made up of overhead lines – mostly T-pylons – while an 8.5km stretch of underground cable runs through the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The book tells a story about Alfie, a 10-year-old Anglo-Saxon living in Lincolnshire, and Dawn, an archaeologist. Together they learn about Viking Link, renewable energy and how the National Grid team who built the site discovered ancient finds while building the interconnector. The project team worked with Wessex Archaeology who helped develop and write the story of ‘Alfie’.
The way we use and generate energy is changing and with demand for electricity forecast to double in the coming years, changes need to be made to the network of overhead lines, pylons, cables, and other infrastructure that transports electricity around the country.
Since the start of the year, work has focused on archaeological surveys, vegetation clearance ahead of the bird nesting season and early site preparation, but the project will become much more visible in the community over the coming months.
Between now and summer 2024 we’ll be working with our main contractor Balfour Beatty to complete enabling works. We will then start main construction which will install the underground cables and transform the skyline around Devizes.
Three projects across National Grid’s electricity transmission and distribution networks have secured almost £400,000 to fund feasibility studies as part of the SIF’s discovery phase, which backs the most promising innovations that could accelerate the net zero transition.
Construction of the £400m project, due to start this summer, will allow more renewable and low-carbon energy to move onto the electricity grid and into homes and businesses, both in Yorkshire and further afield. This will help deliver the government’s net zero targets as well as enable a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient energy system.
The Examining Authority has now completed its examination of the application for development consent for National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead Reinforcement.
Housing developments in parts of three London boroughs (Hounslow, Hillingdon and Ealing) have had their connection dates brought forward by the networks enabling ramped connections that deliver increased electricity supply over time. Project developments totalling 7800 homes have had their connection dates accelerated through this solution, equating to a total of 10.5 megavolt amperes of demand capacity.
The works in Horsey require the installation and removal of temporary masts, two new angle towers and the building of two cable sealing end compounds, where overhead electricity lines connect onto the new section of underground cables.
The two new pylons replace two original gentle giants - 91m high pylons built 90 years ago - and highlight the remarkable evolution of engineering techniques and sea transportation between the 1930s and 2020s.
The original gentle giants
Built in the 1930s, the two original pylons were constructed panel by panel and lifted up using a lifting device called a gin pole. Workers would have used a series of pulleys and guide wires to lift pylons into place.