The Anonymous Widower

National Grid Invites Local Community To Comment On Proposals For Green Electricity Projects Needed To Boost Home-Grown Energy Supplies And Progress Towards Net Zero

The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.

These are the four main bullet points.

• New interconnector with Netherlands and subsea cable between Suffolk and Kent will strengthen electricity supplies and transport low carbon power to homes and businesses.
• 8-week public consultations will introduce the plans and ask for views of local communities.
• The proposals include possible co-location of infrastructure (buildings and underground cables.) to reduce the impact on local communities.
• Projects form part of the electricity network upgrades identified across the UK to help deliver the government’s energy security strategy and net zero targets.

Note.

1. Eurolink is a subsea electricity cable between Great Britain and the Netherlands.
2. Sea Link is a subsea electricity cable between Suffolk and Kent.
3. The consultations will start on October the 24th.

This paragraph from the press release describes Eurolink.

Developed by National Grid Ventures, the Eurolink multi-purpose interconnector (MPI) is designed to harness the increasing volumes of offshore wind power in the North Sea and has the potential to power approximately 1.8 million homes. It will enable the connection of offshore wind farms to both the British and Dutch electricity grids via an interconnector, enabling the transport of clean electricity from where it’s produced to where it’s needed most.

And this paragraph describes Sea Link.

Developed by National Grid Electricity Transmission, Sea Link will add additional capacity to the electricity network in Suffolk and Kent, enabling low carbon and green energy to power local homes and businesses and be transported around the country. The proposals outline a preferred route of 10km of onshore and 140km of undersea cables, together with potential landfall and converter station locations at the proposed Friston substation in Suffolk and in Richborough in Kent.

These two new interconnectors would appear to open up the delivery of green electricity to the South-East of England and the Continent.

As I’ve said before, there doesn’t be any shortage of money to build wind farms and interconnectors between Great Britain, Belgium and The Netherlands.

How Much Wind Capacity Is Lined Up Around The South-East Of England?

Wind farms listed in the area include.

• Operation – Dudgeon – 402 MW
• Operation – East Anglia One – 714 MW
• Operation – Greater Gabbard – 504 MW
• Operation – Gunfleet Sands – 184 MW
• Operation -Kentish Flats – 140 MW
• Operation – London Array – 630 MW
• Operation – Rampion – 400 MW
• Operation – Scoby Sands – 60 MW
• Operation – Sheringham Shoal – 317 MW
• Operation – Thanet – 300 MW
• Proposed – East Anglia Three – 1372 MW
• Proposed – Norfolk Boreas – 1386 MW
• Exploratory – East Anglia One North – 800 MW
• Exploratory – East Anglia Two – 900 MW
• Exploratory – Rampion 2 Extension – 1200 MW
• Exploratory – Norfolk Vanguard – 1800 MW
• Exploratory – North Falls – 504 MW
• Exploratory – Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extensions – 719 MW

Note.

1. These wind farms total to 12.3 GW.
2. As the UK needs about 23 GW, these wind farms can power about half the UK.
3. But no matter, as the East Anglian Array is planned to go to 7.2 GW and only 4.7 GW is so far operational or planned.
4. So there could be up to another 2.5 GW to come.

This is not bad news for Rishi Sunak’s first days in office.

There’s More To Come

The National Grid press release finishes with these two paragraphs.

Last year, National Grid Ventures also ran a non-statutory consultation on Nautilus, a proposed MPI linking Britain and Belgium, which proposed a connection at Friston. National Grid Ventures is now investigating the potential to move the Nautilus MPI project to the Isle of Grain in Kent.

Much of the UK’s electricity network was built in the 1960s when the country was more reliant on fossil fuels. Today, we need to connect huge volumes of renewable power, such as offshore wind, to the network, to help deliver the government’s energy security strategy and net zero targets and to transition to a cleaner, more affordable, and more independent energy system. New infrastructure, and network upgrades are necessary to get the new clean energy from where it’s generated to where it’s needed.In addition to these proposals in Suffolk and Kent (and the East Anglia GREEN proposals which are currently being consulted on) the need for new network infrastructure has also been identified in North and South Wales, the Scottish Islands and West Coast, the East Coast of Scotland and Aberdeenshire, Lancashire, North-East England, and Yorkshire & Humber.

National Grid have numerous plans to connect up all the renewable energy being developed.

October 26, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Energy | East Anglia, Eurolink, Interconnectors, Kent, National Grid, Sea Link, Suffolk, The Netherlands