The National Energy System Operator (NESO) recently stated t that “ We need to build five times more electricity transmission infrastructure over the next six years than we’ve constructed over the past three decades – something that could provide a serious boost to the economy. According to government figures, the great smart grid upgrade could create as many as 130,000 jobs and contribute up to £11bn to the economy.”
The great grid upgrade is the cornerstone of the incoming government’s mission to decarbonise the grid by 2030.
Labour Party leader Kier Starmer and his team recognise that you only harness the true potential of your scientists and engineers by setting them an ambitious challenge. Just as JFK wanted to go to the moon, Kier Starmer wants to decarbonise the National Grid. Both radical ideas, but ultimately achievable in their own right.
The mighty National Transmission System
There’s currently a lot of noise around how ‘impossible’ upgrading our electricity grid will be.
As we look to upgrade our ageing electrical infrastructure, maybe we should look to the past for inspiration to see how the engineers in the 1960’s built a whole National Transmission System (NTS) from scratch, for a gas industry that didn’t even exist when works to build it commenced!
It was both radical and brilliant and continues to serve the nation without any fuss or failure.
However, it must be remembered that not only was the NTS built from scratch, but the whole country underwent an energy transition just as enormous as the transition to a smart electricity grid will be.
The UK converted a whole country city by city, town by town, street by street, home by home, appliance by appliance and nozzle by nozzle, from town gas to natural gas. 14 million households and 40 million appliances. And it took just eight years – from 1968 to 1976.
The great energy transition
We are on the cusp of the next great energy transition, moving from traditional to renewable energy sources, and managing all the issues in between.
Just as in the 1960s, the engineering community had a clear mandate from the government of the day to modernise the gas infrastructure, in 2024 the new Labour government has laid down the challenge of Kier Starmer’s mission to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030.
New technologies, such as large-scale high-density battery storage stations are being constructed around the country, as we seek to help manage supply and demand more efficiently.
However, to truly unlock the power of renewable energy, we need to expand the National Grid in a similar time frame that we built the NTS, allowing large-scale offshore and smaller onshore renewable energy installations to connect to the grid, and solve the fundamental problem of energy intermittency with smart grid solutions. We’re working hard to help make the vision a reality.
We can do the same with a smarter electricity network
Just as much of the legacy gas grid was rapidly ageing, much of Britain’s electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure (built in the 1960s) is now nearing the end of its expected operational life. Like the gas grid, the electricity grid faces similar infrastructure challenges and the need to accommodate a growing share of renewable energy sources. The experiences and lessons from the great gas switch can serve as a valuable blueprint.
One key parallel is the need to reinforce and modernise the existing infrastructure. Just as the gas pipelines needed to accommodate natural gas, a new electricity grid will need to accommodate the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and the bidirectional flow of electricity from distributed generation sources like solar and wind.
An upgraded electrical grid needs to not only manage solar and wind energy, but also smart grid technologies and increasing EV charging demands. Real-time data collection and analysis can help optimise energy distribution, reduce losses and quickly identify and respond to issues. Large-scale battery storage will be fundamental to manage power intermittency.
The gas grid adopted polyethene pipes with advanced coatings and protective layers. For the electrical grid, new cable designs with increased capacities, reduced losses, and enhanced fire resilience can improve safety and stability. Compact GIS substations can replace legacy AIS installations, further improving efficiency and localised resourcing.
Routing new electrical transmission assets through urban and sensitive areas can carefully be undertaken learning lessons from the gas replacement. In some instances, selective refurbishments like tower repowering can provide a cost-effective way to safely extend the life of electrical assets. Digitised substations, sensor networks and data analytics platforms will all be key enablers.
The gas grid overhaul also demonstrated the value of public-private partnerships and collaboration among industry stakeholders. The success of the electricity grid transformation will similarly rely on effective coordination between government agencies, utility companies, renewable energy developers and technology providers to deliver a coherent and well-executed strategy.
Here’s to a greener future with smart grid technology
While the technical details differ, the broad challenges of maintaining a reliable supply, environmental integration, smart grid future-proofing and prudent capital deployment are highly paralleled.
The gas grid’s evolution into a modern, intelligent and future-ready system is there to learn from. By taking heed of its lessons and best practices, we can continue raising the bar for world-class energy transmission and lead in building a sustainable future.