To accommodate the growing demand for electricity and the increasing number of renewable energy projects, the UK National Grid has proposed a grid overhaul.
On March 19, local time, the UK National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) released a document titled “Beyond 2030,” proposing a £58 billion (approximately ¥531 billion) investment in the grid by 2035.
According to independent research cited by the ESO, the plans outlined in the document would create and sustain over 20,000 jobs annually. The report does not specify the source of funding and would require approval from the government and regulatory bodies to be implemented.
The overall recommendations in the report include expanding offshore grids to further develop offshore wind power and constructing a new north-south electricity backbone.
The UK aims to decarbonize its power sector by 2035 while anticipating continued growth in electricity demand. The report indicates that the UK’s electricity network has seen mostly minor upgrades over the past 70 years, and with increased electrification in various sectors, the country’s electricity demand is projected to increase by 64% by 2035.
“The current grid capacity is gradually reaching its limit, and without strengthening the network, we won’t be able to transmit more electricity,” the report states.
Over the past decade, the UK has invested more in renewable energy generation than in transmission capacity, leading to grid bottlenecks and waste of some energy sources, according to the report.
Therefore, the report suggests that the UK will embark on its biggest grid transformation since the establishment of the high-voltage transmission network in the 1950s.
In July 2022, the ESO released the “Pathways to 2030 Overall Network Design,” planning to connect 23 GW of offshore wind power to help achieve the UK’s goal of installing 50 GW of offshore wind power by 2030.
Furthermore, the report proposes facilitating the connection of 21 GW of offshore wind power. This means that by 2035, the UK’s power system will plan to integrate 86 GW of offshore wind power.
This would exceed the current global installed capacity of offshore wind power. According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global installed capacity of offshore wind power is currently 63 GW.
The ESO also plans to achieve these goals by upgrading existing submarine cables and laying thousands of miles of new cables. The report states that by 2035, the amount of submarine cable laid in the UK will be three times that of onshore infrastructure.
Additionally, the ESO proposes to establish a new power backbone from Peterhead in Scotland to Merseyside in England to increase north-south power transmission capacity. However, the organization also states that this is still an early option and requires further consideration.
In 2022, Scotland accounted for 35% of the UK’s total wind power generation, but most of the UK’s electricity consumption is in the southeast of England.
According to the report’s plan, by 2035, there will be over 30 GW of offshore wind power in Scottish waters, while peak local power demand in Scotland will only be 6 GW.
Due to transmission bottlenecks from Scotland to England, the UK’s curtailed wind power has significantly increased in recent years.
In June last year, the financial think tank Carbon Tracker released a report stating that the wind power wasted in the UK in 2022 could have powered 1 million homes, and by 2030, congestion in the Scotland-England grid could waste 20% of Scotland’s wind power generation.
