No it isn't £28bn to fund the electricity grid, it's 18bn to fund upgrades to the gas network and £10bn to upgrade the electric grid, and as I posted before to say the electric grid is not ready ignores the simple fact that businesses are ready when they have planned ahead for a scenario.
You posted a link from National Grid that said they are in a healthy situation. But if you dug deeper into that link, it totally contradicted the main story. Classic gaslighting that the authorities rely on to cover deficiencies. Here is a more comprehensive breakdown of why our energy bills will get even higher.
National Grid is undertaking a comprehensive modernisation of the UK's electricity network, known as "The Great Grid Upgrade," which represents the most significant investment in the country's transmission infrastructure in a generation. This initiative is driven by the need to support the UK's transition to net zero by 2050, accommodate a projected 64% increase in electricity demand by 2035, and integrate vast amounts of renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.
A central component of this effort is a £35 billion investment plan for the 2026-2031 regulatory period, which includes adding 35 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation and storage capacity and 19 Gigavolt-Amps (GVA) to support growing demand from industries like data centers and gigafactories. This plan involves upgrading approximately 2,175 miles (3,500 km) of existing overhead power lines and constructing 25 new substations, with another 15 planned beyond 2031, alongside upgrading 10% of existing substation infrastructure.
To deliver this scale of infrastructure, National Grid has launched the Electricity Transmission Partnership (ETP), a transformative approach that fosters long-term regional collaborations with suppliers, offering them exclusivity based on performance and commitment to expanding their capacity, thereby strengthening the UK supply chain and encouraging local skills development. This is supported by a major framework for High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology, which has secured contracts worth approximately £59 billion (US$76.4 billion) with key suppliers like Siemens Energy, GE Vernova, Hitachi Energy, and Mitsubishi Electric for converters, and with LS Cable & System, NKT Cables, and others for cables.
Specific projects are already underway or in development. The £90 million upgrade of an 82km overhead line between Bramley and Melksham, brought forward to begin in January 2024 and complete by October 2025, will increase the line's capacity by 3,000MVA, helping to accelerate the connection of 175 clean energy projects in South West England and Wales. Another major project proposes a new transmission line from Weston Marsh in Lincolnshire to East Leicestershire, involving 60 km of new high-voltage overhead lines and two new substations, along with the upgrade of 55 km of existing lines. The network is also being strengthened to connect offshore wind farms through projects like Eastern Green Link 3 and 4 (EGL3/EGL4), and to improve connections from Scotland to England via the proposed Carlisle to Newcastle upgrade.
These efforts are part of a broader strategy to build a more resilient, secure, and decarbonised energy system, with the potential to create up to 130,000 jobs and inject up to £11 billion into the economy. The ultimate goal is to ensure the grid can efficiently move clean energy from where it is generated, such as offshore wind farms in the North Sea, to where it is needed across the UK.
National Grid is undertaking a comprehensive modernisation of the UK's electricity network, known as "The Great Grid Upgrade," which represents the most significant investment in the country's transmission infrastructure in a generation. This initiative is driven by the need to support the UK's transition to net zero by 2050, accommodate a projected 64% increase in electricity demand by 2035, and integrate vast amounts of renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.
A central component of this effort is a £35 billion investment plan for the 2026-2031 regulatory period, which includes adding 35 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation and storage capacity and 19 Gigavolt-Amps (GVA) to support growing demand from industries like data centers and gigafactories. This plan involves upgrading approximately 2,175 miles (3,500 km) of existing overhead power lines and constructing 25 new substations, with another 15 planned beyond 2031, alongside upgrading 10% of existing substation infrastructure.
To deliver this scale of infrastructure, National Grid has launched the Electricity Transmission Partnership (ETP), a transformative approach that fosters long-term regional collaborations with suppliers, offering them exclusivity based on performance and commitment to expanding their capacity, thereby strengthening the UK supply chain and encouraging local skills development. This is supported by a major framework for High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology, which has secured contracts worth approximately £59 billion (US$76.4 billion) with key suppliers like Siemens Energy, GE Vernova, Hitachi Energy, and Mitsubishi Electric for converters, and with LS Cable & System, NKT Cables, and others for cables.
Specific projects are already underway or in development. The £90 million upgrade of an 82km overhead line between Bramley and Melksham, brought forward to begin in January 2024 and complete by October 2025, will increase the line's capacity by 3,000MVA, helping to accelerate the connection of 175 clean energy projects in South West England and Wales. Another major project proposes a new transmission line from Weston Marsh in Lincolnshire to East Leicestershire, involving 60 km of new high-voltage overhead lines and two new substations, along with the upgrade of 55 km of existing lines. The network is also being strengthened to connect offshore wind farms through projects like Eastern Green Link 3 and 4 (EGL3/EGL4), and to improve connections from Scotland to England via the proposed Carlisle to Newcastle upgrade.
These efforts are part of a broader strategy to build a more resilient, secure, and decarbonised energy system, with the potential to create up to 130,000 jobs and inject up to £11 billion into the economy. The ultimate goal is to ensure the grid can efficiently move clean energy from where it is generated, such as offshore wind farms in the North Sea, to where it is needed across the UK.