Energy firms to spend £70bn to rewire Great Britain’s electricity grid
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National Grid, SSE and ScottishPower submit plans amid global race to shift from fossil fuels to clean electricity. Energy companies have promised to spend almost £70bn over five years to help rewire Great Britain’s electricity infrastructure in the global race to shift from fossil fuels to clean electricity.
The companies that own the high-voltage power system – National Grid, SSE and ScottishPower – have submitted spending plans totalling about £68bn to the industry regulator Ofgem for the period from 2026 to 2031, which could support about 100,000 jobs.
The proposals must still be approved by the watchdog, which is expected to balance the need for costly investments in upgrading the power infrastructure to meet climate targets, which is paid for through energy bills, against the need to protect customers from rising costs.
National Grid set out plans to spend up to £35bn over the five years to March 2031, which could include investment of more than £11bn to maintain and upgrade the country’s existing networks, alongside building three major grid projects that have already been approved by the regulator through its fast-track process.
The FTSE 100 energy company has also proposed an investment pipeline of about £24bn; which includes about £15bn to increase network capacity, and a £9bn provision for any additional potential projects that the UK government may need to meet its 2030 clean power targets.
SSE made its plans public last week, outlining investments of £22.3bn in grid infrastructure that includes about £16bn of strategic investments that have already earned the backing of Ofgem through a fast-track framework designed to speed up the process of connecting offshore windfarms to the power grid.
