249 pylons to go from the Somerset landscape
The new high-voltage Hinkley Connection will connect 6 million homes and business to low carbon energy. It is made up of overhead electricity lines featuring new T-pylons and 8.5km of underground cables under the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
To make way for the new connection, National Grid is removing 67km of existing overhead wires and pylons – 249 in total – from the Somerset landscape.
Part of the Mendip Hills will be pylon-free for the first time since the 1930s
35 pylons are being removed between Loxton and Sandford, where instead of building T-pylons we have installed underground cables under the Mendip Hills, leaving this part of the Area of Outstanding Beauty pylon-free for the first time in 91 years!
28 of the pylons have now been removed with the 8 closest to Sandford substation programmed for removal next year.
The existing pylons are 24.1m tall and weigh around 4,200kg and are quite a sight when pulled to the ground. Enjoy this footage where Project Manager, Aden Precious talks us through the felling of a pylon in the Mendip Hills near Winscombe.
