Stage 2 consultation
Our Stage 2 consultation will run for eight weeks, from 12pm on Tuesday 3 March 2026 to 11:59pm on Tuesday 28 April 2026. This consultation is open to anyone interested in our proposals and we encourage you to share your views.
Find out how you can attend a public information event or an online webinar and share your feedback on our Have your say page.
We will carefully consider all comments we receive during this consultation as we finalise our proposals and prepare to submit our application for development consent.
All documents published for this consultation are available to view in our Document library. Please contact our team if you have any questions about the Project. To keep up to date with our proposals, register for email updates here.
View our proposals
You can view our proposals on our interactive map, which shows our Proposed Route Alignment as a whole and by Route Section.
About Chesterfield to Willington
National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) is proposing to upgrade the electricity transmission network through the construction of a new high-voltage electricity transmission line with associated works in Derbyshire. The new 400 kV overhead line, approximately 60 kilometres (km) in length, will connect a new substation at Chesterfield area to the existing Willington Substation.
In 2024 we held a Stage 1 consultation on the early proposals for Chesterfield to Willington (see Stage 1 Consultation Feedback Report for more information). Feedback from this early stage of the project has been used to refine our proposals for this second stage of consultation.
You can read more about the project on the Our proposals page or view our interactive map.
What has changed since Stage 1 consultation?
Our proposals for Chesterfield to Willington have changed since our first consultation in spring/summer 2024. The feedback we received at that time, as well as further technical and environmental assessments, has helped to shape our updated proposals.
Key changes include a more detailed route for the overhead line (known as the Proposed Route Alignment), an alternative route between Astwith and Alfreton to the east of the Stage 1 corridor that avoids sensitive areas, and proposals for a new substation at Chesterfield.
Why this is needed
The existing network in the East Midlands region does not have the capacity to deliver the required amount of electricity to where it is needed.
Chesterfield to Willington would play an important role in transporting more secure, cleaner, home-grown energy from more affordable sources – generated off the coast of Britain – to around two million homes in the Midlands and beyond.
About The Great Grid Upgrade
The way we generate electricity has changed and is continuing to change. Demand for electricity is set to double by 2050 as the way we power our homes, businesses, industry and transport changes. We need to upgrade the grid now to ensure we can meet this increase in demand.
Chesterfield to Willington is part of The Great Grid Upgrade, the largest upgrade of the electricity network in England and Wales in generations.
The DCO process
Chesterfield to Willington is a project of national significance. This type of project requires a special type of planning permission to be built, known as a Development Consent Order (DCO).
Hearing your views is important to us. Your feedback – along with the outcome of technical assessments and environmental surveys – helps us to develop our proposals before we submit our DCO application to the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate will examine our proposals and make a recommendation on the application to the Secretary of State, who will make the final decision on whether to grant consent.
Indicative project timeline
The project is currently in the pre-application stage of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) planning process. Below is a timeline of the key milestones.
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