What is a pylon?

How do electricity pylons work?

Pylons are used to support high-voltage overhead lines – the electrical cables that transmit electricity all over the country through the electricity grid.

Electricity originally comes out of a power station at a low voltage of around 10-30 kilovolts. It then enters a transmission substation, where it passes through a ‘step-up’ transformer that turns it into high-voltage electricity – up to 400,000 volts. This ensures greater efficiency and less energy loss as it travels around the national grid.

The electricity eventually reaches another substation where it is fed through a ‘step-down’ transformer, which converts into more usable, lower-voltage electricity.

Finally, a network of local operators transports this lower-voltage electricity through their own power lines and underground cables to supply homes and businesses.

What are pylons made of? 

Pylons are usually made of steel, due to its strength. To avoid the steel conducting an electrical current from the high-voltage cables into the tower, ‘insulators’ are used. These are usually made of materials that won’t conduct an electrical current, such as porcelain or glass.
 

Are pylons dangerous?

As overhead lines are normally bare (uninsulated), it’s important that they’re high enough from the ground so neither human nor machine can come into contact with them.

The reason pylons are so tall is for safety purposes, so the overhead lines can’t be reached by the public and can easily straddle roads, rivers, valleys or railway lines without coming into contact with passing vehicles or people.

You should never climb a pylon or attempt to get near to overhead lines, as this has the potential to cause severe shocks, burns or even death.
 

Who owns electricity pylons?

You might have noticed that pylons in the UK come in different sizes. This is because they carry different types of power line and they’re owned by different organisations.

The larger pylons – carrying 400kV and 275kV power lines –are owned by us, National Grid. They transmit electricity from where it’s generated (such as power stations or wind farms) to regional substations. This part of the electricity network is known as the ‘transmission network’ because it transmits power across the country.

The smaller pylons – which carry lower-voltage power lines –are owned by local Distribution Network Operators (known as DNOs). They carry electricity from the substations to our homes, businesses and anywhere else that uses electricity. This part of the electricity network is known as the ‘distribution network’ because it distributes the power to the places where it’s needed.
 

How tall are pylons?

National Grid’s UK pylons are a minimum height of 118ft (36m), while the tallest are 623ft tall (190m), crossing the River Thames between Essex and Kent.
 

How are pylons repaired and maintained?

To make sure that the pylons and overhead lines that we’re responsible for are properly maintained and any defects are fixed, we use a few different methods.

We often use helicopters to carry out inspection work, as they can cover large distances and they don’t require access to the land surrounding our powerlines. We also have a fleet of drones, which allow us to look at parts of our network that are more difficult or costly to reach.
 

What is a T-pylon?

The T-pylon is the first new design for UK electricity pylons in nearly

100 years.

This new shorter, sleeker pylon design was chosen from 250 entries in an international competition, organised by National Grid, the UK Government and the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2011.

The winning T-shaped pylon is about 50 ft shorter than the traditional steel lattice structure, but can still transmit 400,000 volts. The overhead power lines it carries are suspended from a diamond-shaped ‘earring’.

The operational life of the new T-pylon is around 70-80 years.

The world’s first operational T-pylon construction project is expected to run for five years, to be completed in 2026. This project will see 116 T-pylons installed along National Grid’s 57 km Hinkley Connection route. The route will connect low-carbon energy from EDF’s Hinkley Point C power station to six million UK homes and businesses.

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