What will upgrading the UK’s energy system mean for you?
Our electricity grid has served us for almost 90 years now – we flick a switch and we have instant light, we put the kettle on and it gives us hot water when we need it. However, as we move from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources this grid, which we rely on every day, needs an upgrade to make sure it remains resilient and future proof.
That’s because it was originally built to connect electricity generated by coal and gas-fired power stations that were located on the coal seams down the centre of the country. But as we continue to move to more and more renewable sources of energy, which are generated in large part by offshore windfarms as well as solar, new infrastructure is needed to connect that renewable energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed by homes and businesses right across the country.
The Great Grid Upgrade is the largest overhaul of the UK’s electricity transmission grid in generations and represents a significant change in how we develop infrastructure. We’re undertaking one of the biggest ever infrastructure build outs in the UK, with major onshore and offshore projects to deliver to achieve the change that’s required.
So why is it needed and what will it mean for you?
Ensuring the UK’s energy security
The part of our energy bills that fluctuates the most is the commodity, as fossil fuels are finite resources and therefore less secure. To prevent big increases in our bills like those following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we need to replace these expensive imported fossil fuels with cleaner and cheaper domestic sources of energy, which will reduce that volatile bill component.
With our new infrastructure we’re delivering that resilience, security and diversity of supply, and we’re working hard to deliver a network that enables this, while delivering a secure, diverse mix of clean energy to our homes, businesses, hospitals and schools.
Adding value to the economy
Over the coming years we need to build five times more electricity transmission infrastructure than we’ve constructed over the past three decades and this could provide a serious boost to the economy. According to government figures, The Great Grid Upgrade could create as many as 130,000 jobs and contribute up to £11bn to the economy.
To deliver these projects we’re going to need a huge range of skills, not just in engineering and construction but anything from design through to delivery – chartered surveyors, planners, IT and environmental professionals, procurement specialists, visual designers, project managers, apprentices and many more.
As our upgrade projects have a wide geographic scope, new jobs will be distributed right across the country. Connecting more renewables to the grid will see new job opportunities in other areas too, such as solar and wind, as well as the automotive sector (through increasing demand for electric vehicles) and heat pump market.
It also creates an opportunity to put the UK on the map as an economy that’s leaning into the green energy transition. If we develop the skills in the UK they can also be used by other economies as they go through their energy transition.
Helping the UK to reach net zero
Millions of UK households and many thousands of businesses will need to adopt new technologies if we’re to achieve net zero by 2050, which the climate emergency requires us to, and this technological evolution and innovation creates a demand for energy that has to be catered for.
These changes could also be good for your finances: the Treasury’s Net Zero Review suggested that the average electricity bill in 2050 for a household with an electric vehicle and a heat pump could be broadly similar or even lower than the average electricity, heat and transport fuel costs for a household in 2019 with an internal combustion engine vehicle and a gas boiler.
The electrification of heating, transport and industry is expected to result in a rapid increase in demand: by 2050, we could be using twice as much electricity as we do today. The government has set a target of adding up to 50GW of offshore wind to Britain’s energy mix by 2030 and is also targeting a fivefold increase in solar deployment, to 70GW, by 2035.
Without upgrading our electricity infrastructure, we can’t connect new clean, green sources of supply to the grid. Getting new renewable energy projects connected to the grid as quickly as possible will give the UK a much better chance of successfully achieving net zero and bringing bills down.
In that sense, The Great Grid Upgrade is the very foundation of the country’s energy transition. The fundamental point of it is to sustain and to enhance the environment we live in, ensuring that it’s preserved both for our generation and those to come.
Find out more about The Great Grid Upgrade
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