{"id":665614,"date":"2026-06-30T06:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/665614\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T06:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:54:13","slug":"cost-to-rewire-great-britains-electricity-network-could-reach-90bn-in-2030s-energy-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/665614\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost to rewire Great Britain\u2019s electricity network could reach \u00a390bn in 2030s | Energy industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cost of rewiring Great Britain\u2019s electricity networks through the 2030s is now 50% higher than before the Labour<\/a> government came to power, and could reach almost \u00a390bn in the next decade, according to the energy system operator.<\/p>\n

Building new high-voltage transmission lines and infrastructure to connect low-carbon energy to the grid in the 2030s was initially forecast by the energy system operator to cost \u00a358bn.<\/p>\n

Updated forecasts from the National Energy System Operator (Neso) now recommend network investments of \u00a389bn could be needed to deliver the government\u2019s clean power targets while meeting the country\u2019s rising demand for electricity, including from datacentres<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neso, which is owned by the government, said the scale of investment was \u201cbroadly consistent\u201d with its initial recommendations but had evolved to align with the UK government\u2019s 2030 clean power action plan, an accelerated rollout of new low-carbon energy projects and rising inflation.<\/p>\n

Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said: \u201cWe are taking a strategic approach to building an energy system fit for the future \u2013 that safeguards our energy independence and keeps bills down while driving economic growth in every corner of Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis provides a blueprint for where our electricity grid is needed \u2013 to power AI and industry, and ensure homes and businesses benefit from Britain\u2019s clean, homegrown energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The system operator has recommended 43 network projects for delivery in the 2030s, including 16 network options that were not in Neso\u2019s original 2024 forecast. These include new plans such as a project to connect windfarms in the Celtic Sea at three points across south Wales and south-west England, as well as variations or updated versions of previously recommended options.<\/p>\n

Energy minister Michael Shanks said: \u2018We are taking a strategic approach to building an energy system fit for the future.\u2019 Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The Labour government won a historic election victory two years ago on the promise to make the UK a clean energy superpower by 2030, bringing forward by five years the previous government\u2019s plan to create a virtually zero carbon power system by 2035. It set out targets to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple the country\u2019s offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade to achieve this goal.<\/p>\n

The pledge has galvanised action across the energy industry, speeding up work to build and connect clean energy projects ahead of 2030 and into the next decade.<\/p>\n

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This has included Neso\u2019s overhaul of the queue of energy projects<\/a> hoping to connect to the grid, meaning projects can avoid lengthy delays under the previous system. Meanwhile, work by transmission companies to develop onshore network plans has also \u201cimproved the maturity\u201d of these projects, meaning they can be delivered sooner than expected.<\/p>\n

Alice Delahunty, the head of National Grid\u2019s transmission business, said the company was \u201calready moving quickly\u201d to upgrade its network, increase capacity and support economic growth, \u201cwhile keeping a clear focus on consumer value and reducing costs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs electricity demand grows, we need clear and consistent signals on future network needs, including through connections reform. Plans like this from Neso are an important step in the right direction, showing the upgrades and scale of further investment needed, alongside greater use of flexibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cost of rewiring Great Britain\u2019s electricity networks through the 2030s is now 50% higher than before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-665614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}