East of England MPs, known as OffSET (Offshore Electricity-Grid Taskforce) have given a warm welcome to a review by ESO, the Electricity System Operator, to consider “offshore routes” for electricity transmission in East Anglia.
The MPs represent constituencies across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex and are jointly campaigning for an offshore grid. They are particularly delighted that, at last, communities in the three counties affected by new grid infrastructure proposals will get the chance to see a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of offshore vs onshore options.
East Anglia GREEN is the National Grid proposal to reinforce the electricity grid to cope with rising electricity output – especially from offshore wind. MPs and their constituents in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex have been frustrated by National Grid’s focus on pylons and overhead lines as the solution to grid capacity, rather than undersea power links off the coast. Offshore options are being pursued at considerable cost in other parts of the UK (e.g. the Eastern Link from Scotland to the north of England).
The new review will:
- Identify alternative options that could address the capacity issue including “consideration of offshore routes”.
- Assess both the benefits and costs of each option (where, to date, National Grid’s cursory consideration of offshore options has purely focused on cost)
- ‘Benchmark’ costs of each proposal against other projects in Britain – important in light of the significant expenditure on the Eastern Link and other interconnector projects elsewhere in the UK
The review will follow the conclusion of the ‘Early Opportunities workstream’ which the MPs secured from the government, which has been looking at potential coordination of offshore wind schemes in East Anglia. The review is expected to be published in the summer and OffSET MPS are pleased that ESO have promised to work alongside MPs, Councillors and local representatives as part of engagement on the review.
James Cartlidge MP says:
“I totally support the need to enforce our electricity grid so that it can cope with the demands of our extraordinary offshore wind success story – with renewables making up 40% of our electricity generation last year. However, it is vital that consideration of new infrastructure to reinforce the grid looks at all potential options, including offshore transmission. To date, the proposed East Anglian GREEN reinforcement has felt like a ‘fait accompli’ with only one onshore route offered to communities to engage on, a ‘swathe’ of land from Norwich to Tilbury, with undergrounding confined to the AONB. Thus, for some months now, together with my East Anglian colleagues, I’ve been calling for an independent expert to be deployed to look in earnest at offshore options for transmitting our regional electricity output, so that my constituents could be presented with the full facts and cost/benefit analysis of onshore vs offshore options. I therefore warmly welcome this review, which will be undertaken by an expert body that is not National Grid itself – although inevitably they will have to contribute to compiling the data – and which, most importantly, will fully consider offshore options for East Anglian electricity transmission.
To be clear, this review is not of itself a guarantee that plans for onshore reinforcement will be cancelled; that would be unrealistic and I believe my constituents understand that. However, what my constituents have wanted is a fair process, with open discussion of the relative merits of onshore and offshore options. It now appears that we will get that information, so that a proper debate can proceed, and I would strongly encourage ESO to involve my constituents in that process as much as possible.”
James Wild MP says:
“People across East Anglia are rightly concerned at proposals that would see our landscape blighted by unsightly pylons. By campaigning together, MPs have secured this review to think again and look properly at the offshore options for this infrastructure to support the highly successful offshore wind generation. While there is no guarantee of the outcome, an evidence based review represents a positive step forward with communities able to make their views known.”
Kind regards,
