National Grid has announced that it has been granted planning permission for a major transmission grid upgrade project.
The Grain to Tilbury project, which will connect the towns of Tilbury and Gravesend, forms part of The Great Grid Upgrade, a project aiming to develop the necessary grid infrastructure to connect 50GW of offshore wind to the grid by 2030. The new development will replace the existing Thames Cable Tunnel, which was originally installed in the 1960s, by building a new 2.3km tunnel underneath the River Thames.
Following the approval of the project, construction has now begun and is expected to be completed in 2029. National Grid has also announced that it has plans for refurbishment of the overhead cabling line between Tilbury, Kingsnorth and the Isle of Grain, which is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Mark Farmer, Grain to Tilbury project director, said: “We are delighted our planning applications for the Grain to Tilbury project have been approved, and this marks a significant step forward in upgrading electricity infrastructure in the region. We look forward to progressing with the next stages of the project and continuing to work closely with local communities and stakeholders.”
Homes near pylons to save on energy bills, says DESNZ
Meanwhile, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has announced that households living near new or upgraded electricity transmission towers will receive discounts on their energy bills.
As part of the UK government’s Plan For Change, households located within 500 meters of new or upgraded pylons will be eligible for electricity bill discounts worth up to £2,500 over the course of ten years. The aim of this is to incentivize rural communities to approve new transmission infrastructure by providing immediate benefit to those closest to the living nearest to new infrastructure.
The government states that it believes that it is right that communities directly benefit from supporting the “nationally critical mission” of upgrading the grid.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “The only way to make Britain energy secure and bring down bills for good is to get Britain off dependence on fossil fuel markets and replace it with clean, homegrown power that we control.
“To do this, we need to get Britain building right now. And as part of that, we are delivering on our landmark commitment to ensure that people who live near infrastructure meaningfully benefit. This will benefit the whole country by ensuring we build the clean power system we need.”
