The National Grid will allocate £8bn to regional delivery partners for substation construction across England and Wales.

The UK government has set itself the lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030. However, this requires the country’s electricity infrastructure to be significantly expanded and upgraded. 

At the end of last year, the National Grid detailed £35bn in “unprecedented” upgrades to the UK’s power network. These infrastructure plans to March 2031 include upgrades to approximately 3,500km of existing overhead lines.

The plan also includes the building of new substations or upgrading existing ones.

To accelerate the delivery of substation infrastructure across England and Wales, the National Grid has introduced the Electricity Transmission Partnership (ETP).

This initiative will award around £8bn to regional delivery partners to construct these substations. The work will comprise around 130 construction projects across England and Wales.

According to the National Grid, this approach aims to strengthen the UK supply chain, encourage long-term investment and support the development of local skills and capability.

The regional delivery partners include Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Murphy, M Group Energy and OTW.

Two national partners, Linxon and Burns & McDonnell, will support delivery of substation work that falls outside the scope of the regional partners’ portfolios.

Alice Delahunty, president of National Grid Electricity Transmission, said: “Our ETP marks a bold shift in how we deliver vital electricity infrastructure. 

“By adopting a regional, long-term approach, we’re giving our supply chain the certainty to invest in people, skills and innovation.”

New data published today by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero finds that the share of UK electricity generation from renewable technologies reached a new record high of 50.4% in 2024, up from 46.5% last year. 

Generation from wind reached a record high, solar output matched last year’s record high, and bioenergy generation increased by 17%. Fossil fuel reached a record low of 31.8% of generation, with coal generation ceasing in September 2024. 

Gas remained the principal form of UK generation at 30.4%, slightly outpacing wind’s contribution of 29.2% of generation.

However, with energy prices in the UK being among the highest in Europe for residential and industrial users, recent surveys have found that public support for net zero hinges on energy bills not rising.  

An Energy Transitions Commission report published this week finds that energy grids based on wind and solar can provide electricity as cheaply, or cheaper, than fossil fuel-based grids in many regions worldwide.

Findings show that the UK, which is classified as being within the ‘wind belt’, in that it depends on a significant proportion of wind energy, is capable of establishing affordable and stable energy systems. However, this is dependent on policymakers, the power industry and financial institutions working together to accelerate power market reforms, expedite planning approvals and minimise deployment bottlenecks.

In April, energy regulator Ofgem approved proposed reforms from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to transform the grid connection process that will see clean energy projects prioritised. 

These reforms will see  the end of the first-come, first-served system, and the prioritisation of “ready” and “needed” clean energy projects. 

In June, NESO announced that it would start reordering the UK electricity grid connections queue from late July.