Professor Keith Bell explains why upgrading Britain's electricity grid is essential for delivering cheaper, greener energy—and the tough choices involved
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00:00Well, it's about enabling access to low carbon energy, in particular wind farms, so the best
00:06locations for wind are where it's windy and where you can get the permission and the space
00:11to build a wind farm, and these locations tend to be in the north of Britain or offshore,
00:17and these are places where the existing transmission network capacity, well, offshore it doesn't
00:21exist, and further north, you know, there's a limited capacity to get the power from north
00:27to south, so there is a need to upgrade the transmission network and build new sections
00:32of network in order to get access to this low carbon energy.
00:37As Britain pushes forward with its largest grid upgrade in decades, the need for modern
00:42infrastructure to handle renewable energy is more urgent than ever. I spoke to Professor
00:47Keith Bell to find out what it will take to reshape our electricity grid and how we can
00:51ensure it's fit for the future.
00:52One of the things we could do is, or the network companies can do, is to have a clear
00:58foresight of what they need to develop over a number of years. That needs some degree of
01:03certainty, which links back to, you know, what is it they're looking for anyway? Is it overhead,
01:06underground, subsea? And then to get contracts in place over a long period of time to be able
01:12to kind of be sure that things will be delivered.
01:17Underground cables and subsea links may look neater, but they come with a much higher price tag.
01:22So how do you decide what's worth it?
01:24There's got to be a clear consideration that the costs of the network to enable access to energy
01:29are picked up in the end by bill payers. So, you know, we've had a cost of living crisis in the
01:35last few years. You know, affordability of energy is really important. So it's important that we keep
01:40those bills as low as possible. But on the other hand, you know, overhead line developments do have
01:49an impact. You know, they're not popular, people don't like the look of them. Lots of objections
01:53are lodged whenever applications are made to build some new line. Finding the right option is very
01:59difficult. I mean, there are also kind of technical considerations as well.
02:02While the grid upgrade is crucial for a greener future, not everyone is on board. Many local
02:07communities are concerned about the visual impact of new infrastructure, especially overhead lines.
02:12So how do we balance the need for progress with the concerns of those living nearby?
02:17Yeah. Well, how do you resolve those tensions? I think it's probably going to be impossible
02:21to satisfy all of the people all of the time. So I think the first thing is to have processes
02:27in place that can give people confidence.