Milestone for National Grid £130 million refurbishment.

National Grid is nearing the end of the current phase of its refurbishment of the overhead line network between Lincoln and Stevenage.

National Grid has committed £130 million to the project, spanning 170 kilometres.

Engineers have been working at heights of up to 50m, replacing approximately 1440km (895 Miles) of overhead line.

The total installation will reach 2,919 kilometres of new overhead line conductor. It will replace the original infrastructure from the 1960s, which is nearing the end of its scheduled working lifespan.

Refurbishment

Refurbishment forms part of National Grid’s £1 billion annual investment in maintaining and upgrading its infrastructure.

According to the National Grid website: “900 operational colleagues work 365 days a year to maintain the network, monitoring 22,000 pylons, 4500 miles of overhead line (the same distance as London to Miami) and 900 miles of underground cable.”

The refurbishment initiative began in March 2022 and covers two project phases. The first phase, from Lincoln to Peterborough, was completed last year.

On average, pylons will last for around 80 years. However, the conductors, insulators and fittings in overhead lines are expected to last for about 40 years.

Increasing Volumes

Once complete, the new line will ensure the network is able to continue to transport increasing volumes of renewable power.

In addition to replacing the overhead lines, specialist teams climbed and surveyed 248 pylons along the 170km route and fitted 52 tonnes of steel to reinforce the pylons to support the new line system.

Martin Bage, Overhead Lines Engineer for National Grid said: "This project is just one example of how our engineers work every day to maintain the electricity network in England and Wales. The excellent progress we are making on this refurbishment is testament to the skill and great teamwork of all involved.

"We look forward to completing the second half of the project and continuing our work ensuring our network can play its part in delivering safe and secure electricity.”

Martin Bage, Overhead Lines Engineer for National Grid said:

“This project is just one example of how our engineers work every day to maintain the electricity network in England and Wales. The excellent progress we are making on this refurbishment is testament to the skill and great teamwork of all involved.

“We look forward to completing the second half of the project and continuing our work ensuring our network can play its part in delivering safe and secure electricity.”