£3.4 billion proposal made for UK electric superhighway in a move that will allow offshore wind energy to reach more consumers
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This week, a proposal between Britain and Scotland to build a £3.4 billion electric superhighway – transporting renewable energy across a 500km (311 mile) stretch from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire, as well as Edinburgh to County Durham – was announced. The joint venture – between Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and the National Grid – seeks to modernise the electricity grid in order for its capacity to withstand demands from the transition to cleaner energy.
With plans to begin construction later this year – and a target finish date of 2029 – the project is expected to create new jobs for contractors and suppliers, as well as secure energy supplies for the future. It will also allow better utilisation of renewable energy created by offshore wind farms in the North Sea, and is estimated to provide an almost 30 per cent increase in peak availability of electricity across the border compared to today.
How does it work – and what are the benefits?
While most of the cable for the superhighway (around 436km) will be buried under the North Sea, the remaining 70km will be placed underground onshore. At each end of the cable will be a converter station that feeds the electricity into the grid and onto consumers.
The electric superhighway – named Eastern Green Link 2 – has completed a fast-track process of securing funding through the new framework outlined by Ofgem, ASTI. By expediting the process to obtain funding by up to two years, Ofgem hopes to make it possible for electricity generated by offshore wind farms to reach more British consumers soon.
According to Ofgem, the proposed electric superhighway plans are ‘vital to upgrade the energy system’, with the potential to result in savings of around £1.5 billion. These savings will come from the reduced need to compensate generators who – due to a lack of grid capacity – are currently asked to turn off production during times of high wind.
‘To ensure we meet future energy demand and achieve Government net zero targets we must speed up the expansion of the high voltage electricity network which connects consumers to homegrown energy,’ said Ofgem Director of Major Projects, Rebecca Barnett.
Is the superhighway enough?
Coined as an electric superhighway for its ability to carry enough renewable electricity to power two million homes, the new network is ‘a further step in putting the regulatory systems and processes in place’ to meet the Labour Government’s aim of clean power by 2030, according to chief executive of Ofgem, Jonathan Brearley. The project – the biggest single investment for electricity transmission infrastructure in Britain – is one of 26 connection projects that aim to support this goal, and adjusted to inflation will cost a total of £4.3 billion.
However, it seems that the superhighway is only the beginning of a much greater task to undertake worldwide. Reports undertaken by Goldman Sachs suggest that over the next decade, €800bn will need to be spent on energy transmission and distribution in Europe. A rise in energy demand – due to the surging popularity of electric vehicles and heat pumps – combined with the new locations of renewable energy sources compared to their former fossil fuel counterparts – are both reasons for the hefty price tag, and perhaps continual cost, to moving toward a cleaner and more sustainable future for energy.
In regards to the electric superhighway, Industry Minister Sarah Jones said: ‘it forms part of our plan to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel imports so we can protect billpayers, boost Britain’s energy independence and accelerate our path to net zero’.
