Huge Boost To UK Supply Chain As National Grid Launches The Great Grid Partnership With Seven New Industry Partners, All United In The Drive To Deliver The Great Grid Upgrade
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
These five bullet points act as sub-headings.
- National Grid launches pioneering ‘enterprise model’ as response to UK supply chain and skills shortage, announcing the first seven supply chain partners to form the Great Grid Partnership.
- The Partnership, which will initially focus on the network design and construction work required by the end of the decade for nine major infrastructure projects across England and Wales, forms part of a £9bn supply chain framework which will also support infrastructure projects beyond 2030.
- The Partnership will support supply chain capacity and foster collaboration across best practice and skills, delivering benefits for consumers and the wider UK economy.
- This investment further underlines National Grid’s commitment to the people, jobs and skills required to help deliver the energy transition.
- Investment in the UK’s electricity network industry will contribute an average of £18.4bn to GDP and support around 220,000 jobs each year between 2024 and 2035.
These three paragraphs introduce the Great Grid Partnership.
In a major boost to the UK supply chain, National Grid has today launched the Great Grid Partnership. The company, which sits at the heart of the UK energy transition, has named the seven partners who will support the delivery of an initial nine Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) projects.
The ASTI projects form a key part of The Great Grid Upgrade, which is building the significant new electricity network infrastructure required to reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels by connecting 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.
This new ‘enterprise model’ is a collaborative partnership, bringing together National Grid’s supply chain partners. Two design and consenting service partners [AECOM Arup (JV); WSP], and five construction partners [Laing O’Rourke; Morgan Sindall Infrastructure; Morrison Energy Services; Murphy; Omexom / Taylor Woodrow (OTW)] are joining National Grid in the newly formed Great Grid Partnership.
I very much feel that the Great Grid Upgrade will be on time, but will the Great Grid Partnership, mean that other important projects will be late, as much of the UK’s competent infrastructure companies will be working for National Grid?
Electricity Networks Accelerate Potential Connection Dates Of Over 200 Clean Energy Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from National Grid.
This is the sub-heading.
7.8GW of clean energy projects, more than double the output of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, have had their connection offer dates brought forward by up to 10 years through the Technical Limits programme, which is allowing projects to connect to lower voltage distribution networks prior to reinforcement of the high voltage transmission network.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Networks have so far sent offers to 203 projects totalling 7.8GW with an average connection acceleration of 6.5 years. In total 393 projects are eligible for the programme with the further 190 projects able to receive accelerated offers once they have progressed through the connection offer process. Last month a solar farm near Bridgwater in Somerset became the first project to be energised under this scheme. Horsey Levels solar farm, which will provide clean energy for 10,000 homes annually, connected to National Grid’s electricity distribution network significantly ahead of its original planned connection date. This initial acceleration has been delivered in the first phase of the Technical Limits programme, with further phases and analysis planned.
Technical Limits, a collaborative project from National Grid Electricity Transmission, Energy Networks Association, the Electricity System Operator and the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) forms part of the ongoing collaborative industry efforts, together with Ofgem and government, to speed up and reform connections to the grid. Scottish Transmission and Distribution network owners have been involved in developing the Technical Limits programme and are in the process of rolling out the programme in their license areas also.
Note.
- National Grid seem to measure large amounts of power, with respect to Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, which will have an output of 3.26 GW.
- The Technical Limits programme seems to be a sensible idea.
- Was the idea thought up by National Grid or is it an idea borrowed from another country?
- If it allows another 7.8 GW of clean electricity projects to be connected an average of 6.5 years earlier, then there can’t be much wrong with the idea.
- Horsey Levels solar farm is to the East of the M5, just to the North of Bridgwater.
I shall be following the roll-out of National Grid’s Technical Limits programme, as more clean power projects are connected to the grid.
National Grid And Innovation
This is another post about innovation at National Grid.
Others include.
- £9.2m Electricity Research Project To Save 39,000 Tonnes Of C02 Gets Go-Ahead, which talks about modifying transmission lines to carry more electricity. This means, that theoretically, we’ll need less and smaller transmission lines.
- £400k For National Grid Innovation Projects As Part Of Ofgem Fund To Help Shape Britain’s Net Zero Transition, which talks about Ofgem grants to fund innovation.
- National Grid Fast-Tracks Overhead Line Upgrade Project To Help Accelerate Connection Dates Of 175 Clean Energy Projects, which describes acceleration of projects.
- National Grid To Accelerate Up To 20GW Of Grid Connections Across Its Transmission And Distribution Networks, which also describes acceleration of projects.
- National Grid Goes Carbon-Free With Hydrogen-Powered Substation Trial, which describes work to use hydrogen as back-up power for substations.
- University Of Manchester And National Grid Team Up To Develop SF6-Free Retrofill Solution For Electricity Network, which describes a project to remove SF6 from the grid. SF6 is a greenhouse gas.
- National Grid Installs LineVision Sensors To Expand The Capacity Of Existing Power Lines, which describes an interesting idea from the United States.
- National Grid ESO And Reactive Technologies Launch Flagship Inertia System To Measure Grid Stability, which describes an innovative Spanish way to measure grid stability.
Note.
- I have included projects, that accelerate connection of new projects to the grid.
- Does National Grid benefit from operating grids in the UK and US, as it gets offered the best technology from both sides of the Pond?
National Grid seem to be big innovators.
The Anonymous Widower 