Multi-billion investment to power a thriving economy

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7 hours ago

Scotland's historic £10.6bn grid upgrade is powering a future of clean energy that will boost jobs, cut costs and enable new growth, writes Nicola Connelly, CEO, SP Energy Networks.
Scotland was one of the early pioneers of electricity grids – joining local lines together in a system that delivered a more resilient supply of energy to towns and cities as they grew, and that ensured the benefits were also felt in rural and remote areas of the country.
Almost a century on we're now embarking on the most ambitious grid upgrade since the post-war years. From Lerwick to London, Caithness to Cornwall, more than £70bn will be invested to ensure Britain has the grid needed for the century to come.
Transmission infrastructure (Image: Partnered content) At SP Energy Networks, we have submitted plans to invest £10.6 billion over the next 5 years to transform the electricity transmission network across central and southern Scotland.
If approved by Ofgem, the energy regulator, it would mark a record investment programme in our transmission network and unlock billions of pounds more of economic growth across our country.
REAL, TANGIBLE BENEFITS FOR SCOTLAND
Electricity now powers more aspects of our lives than ever before, and we need a grid that can meet that. Demand is rising. We need more power to match this, and our investment will help support that.
Our plan will see us enable up to 19GW of new, clean green energy to connect to the grid, as well as delivering more capacity for new businesses, factories, industry and homes to connect.
We'll be reinforcing and reconfiguring our grid to make sure it is in the right place too.
The existing grid was designed for an era that's now gone, when large coal and gas fired plants powered the country. In fact, until earlier this year we had some of those original transmission towers built in 1929 by engineers in suits and flat caps still operational.
Now more of our energy comes from onshore and offshore wind - from our hills and seas - and so we need the power lines that can transport it from where it's made to where it will be used.
The current reality is that whilst we have the natural wind resource in Scotland, sometimes it can't all be used because the grid to transport it is congested. Rewiring will help remove £5bn of constraint costs from bills – good news for all consumers for the long term.
And it will deliver a more robust, secure network - not just keeping the lights on, but keeping the EVs running, the factories powered, the data centres energised, and our lives sustained.(Image: Partnered content)
Nicola Connelly, CEO, SP Energy Networks (Image: Partnered content)
At the same time, our investment plan will support 1,400 high-quality jobs directly employed by SP Energy Networks to help deliver it, with a further 11,000 roles supported across the UK supply chain.
Together, the Centre for Energy Policy (CEP) at the University of Strathclyde says our plan will inject £2 billion a year into the region's GDP—growth that will fuel local communities and services.
Ofgem is soon to issue its initial view on our proposals as well as SSEN Transmission's in the north of Scotland and National Grid's for England and Wales before refinements and a final go ahead by the end of the year.
There is no transition without transmission. The UK, rightfully, has a bold target to deliver Clean Power by 2030. We need to be similarly bold in this transmission price control if we're to deliver it.