Building work skills for young people with additional needs

EmployAbility, our supported internships scheme, is helping young people aged 16-24 who have additional needs grow in confidence and experience, ready for the workplace. The scheme started when a team from National Grid, who’d been volunteering at a special needs school in Warwick, wanted to make even more of an impact on the prospects of the pupils there.

Founded in 2013, EmployAbility now runs at three of our UK office locations – Solihull, Warwick and Wokingham (within current COVID restrictions).

Standing up to the climate change challenge

Over the last decade, the states where we operate – New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts – have doubled down on their commitment to clean energy to lessen the impacts of climate change. From record-breaking offshore wind and clean energy procurements, to continued leadership on energy efficiency, our states have firmly set themselves on the path to a clean energy future.
 

8 things you (probably) didn't know about National Grid

2. We’re transatlantic

National Grid is pivotal to the energy systems of both the UK and the North-Eastern US.

In the UK, we own and operate no fewer than 4,481 miles of overhead electricity lines, 1,417 miles of underground electricity cables and 4,760 miles of high-pressure gas pipes. Add that together and, at over 10,000 miles, that’s pretty much the distance from London to Sydney. Our UK business involves taking high-pressure gas and electricity from the producers to the operators, who then deliver it to homes and businesses.

Work begins on the converter station for National Grid’s Viking Link interconnector

Representing a significant step in the UK’s journey to net zero,  Siemens Energy, lead contractor for the 1400 megawatt interconnector, will supply the technology that will enable the direct sharing of clean electricity between Britain and Denmark for the very first time. 

[30 November] Ofgem gives green light to £12.7m hydrogen trial project

Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition has approved a first of its kind offline hydrogen research facility to understand how transmission assets could be used to transport hydrogen in the future to heat homes and deliver green energy to industry.

The facility will be built from a range of decommissioned assets, to create a representative transmission network. Blends of hydrogen up to 100% will then be tested at transmission pressures, to assess how the assets perform.

[30 November] £9.2m Electricity research project to save 39,000 tonnes of C02 gets go-ahead

National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has been successful in securing £8.12m of funding from Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition (NIC) to research the uprating of overhead lines, with the remainder being funded by National Grid.  

Countdown to UK’s first T-pylons

Once energised, they will be the UK’s first operational T-pylons and the first new design for a UK electricity pylon for almost a century.

The T-pylons have a single pole and T-shaped cross arms, which hold the wires in a diamond ‘earring’ shape. They are around 35 metres high – about a third shorter than traditional 400kV lattice pylons – have a smaller footprint and use less land.

The new high-voltage 400kV overhead line featuring the new pylons is just one element of the Hinkley Connection, which will run from Hinkley to Seabank, near Avonmouth.

National Grid Metering’s customer service team achieves top scores from customer survey

One area that saw a particularly strong score was the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This measures the overall customer experience and whether customers are likely to recommend National Grid Metering. The main elements that led to strong NPS score included key values that customers appreciate including good customer service/support, knowledgeable staff and timely communication.

The scores were:

Net Promoter Score = 61

Customer satisfaction index = 87

Trust = 89

I want to make a difference to our world

Hi, I’m Zaryab and I’m a Substation Project Supervisor.

If you’re looking to make a difference for the generation of tomorrow and for a career that’s exciting and innovative, then this is the place for you. And if you’re searching for a role that gives you both the autonomy to make informed decisions, without being micro-managed, and a structured programme for development with a company that invests in you, then being an engineer here is the job for you.

We're encouraged to say yes to every opportunity

Hi, I’m Sophie and I’m an Apprentice Project Supervisor at National Grid’s gas pipeline maintenance centre.

My friends can’t believe the amount of travelling that comes with my job – two weeks ago I was in Perthshire and in the summer I was in Somerset. The company really looks after its apprentices and I’m put up in hotels near the sites and near the Birmingham office. I’d been away so much that lockdown was a chance to catch up with my sister and mum while I was working from home near Liverpool.