UK: National Grid to Invest GBP 30 Million in Power Lines

National Grid is investing £30 million on upgrading a power line across Cumbria and Lancashire over the next ten months.

New wires will be installed and steelwork repaired and renewed on the 345 pylons which make up the 116km long electricity transmission line which runs south from a substation at Harker, near Carlisle to a substation at Old Hutton near Kendal and then on to a point on the national grid system at Quernmore in Lancashire.

This line is part of the network of overhead lines, underground cables and substations that carry high voltage electricity across the country. The investment will keep the lines in good working order to ensure that everyone has the power they need, safely, and at the touch of a button.

This project will also allow National Grid to increase the efficiency of the line once a project to install some new equipment at the substation at Old Hutton is also complete.

The work will be carried out between March and December this year and there will be no interruption to electricity supplies during the work.

In preparing for work on the overhead line, National Grid has liaised with local authorities, the Environment Agency and Natural England, amongst others.

 William Fenton, Project Manager said: “Our purpose is to connect people to the energy they use. This £30 million investment will help ensure we can all continue to rely on having energy at our finger tips. Our society is built on the warmth and light we rely on at home, and the power which keeps our factories and offices going.”

National Grid is writing to homes and liaising with landowners directly affected by its work on the lines in the area. Advance notice will be given of any road and footpath closures. A special contact number has been set up for people to ring if they have questions about the work.

National Grid, which is the UK’s largest utility, is also currently working on a separate project in Cumbria and Lancashire. This is called the North West Coast Connections project and it is developing plans to provide a connection into the electricity transmission system for the proposed new 3.2GW nuclear power station, Moorside, near Sellafield in West Cumbria and a number of windfarms in the Irish Sea. The work to refurbish the overhead line is not connected with this project.

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Press release, March 20, 2013; Image: nationalgrid