Today, the Electricity System Operator (ESO) has published its ‘Beyond 2030’ report. The report makes a set of recommendations for offshore and onshore network upgrades to facilitate the connection of an extra 21GW of offshore wind alongside other low carbon generation sites across Britain.
The ESO is recommending that Lincolnshire is the southern connection point for five of the subsea cables built as part of this project. They go on to comment that “when these cables reach the shore, they will continue underground to their onshore substation connection point.”
The report can be viewed at: https://www.nationalgrideso.com/future-energy/beyond-2030
These proposals directly undermine the claims made by National Grid during the recent Grimsby to Walpole consultation that an offshore option is too expensive or unfeasible. This is a significant change in National Grid’s public position and should have been included in the consultation process, which concluded less than a week ago.