National Grid has unveiled plans to inject an unprecedented £35 billion into upgrading the UK’s electricity infrastructure, promising to nearly double transmission capacity by the end of the decade.
The move is set to bolster Britain’s push towards renewable power and help the Labour government meet its target of decarbonising the grid by 2030.
The massive upgrade, which spans the five years to March 2031, aims to address a key bottleneck in Britain’s green energy transition. Limited transmission capacity has long hindered the rollout of renewable projects, forcing developers to wait years for grid connections. National Grid’s chief executive, John Pettigrew, described the plan as “the most significant step forward in the electricity network that we’ve seen in a generation.”
If approved by Ofgem, the industry regulator responsible for balancing infrastructure investment and consumer cost, the initiative will fund both enhancements to the existing network and construction of entirely new infrastructure, including pylons, cables, and substations. According to a recent report by the publicly-owned National Energy System Operator (NESO), more than twice the amount of transmission capacity built over the past decade must be constructed in the next five years to meet soaring demand.
The scale of the challenge is immense, as the entire UK economy moves towards cleaner technologies. Beyond meeting the needs of a growing population and more power-hungry industries — such as data centres supporting artificial intelligence workloads — the grid must also provide the backbone for an increasingly electrified transport and heating sector.
Other key players are also stepping up their investment. SSE and ScottishPower, which handle electricity transmission in Scotland, have announced multi-billion-pound infrastructure plans, with SSE investing around £22 billion and ScottishPower £10.6 billion.
Commenting on National Grid’s announcement, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “It’s clear the UK’s network needs upgrading and this statement of intent is a good step forward. Electricity demands are getting bigger by the day, and we need the infrastructure to keep pace.”
The government’s decision to acquire the Electricity System Operator (ESO) from National Grid for £630 million — relaunching it as the National Energy System Operator on October 1 — underscores its resolve to tighten control over critical electricity operations. This move aims to fortify the UK’s energy security while accelerating the path to net-zero emissions.
In tandem with these infrastructure upgrades, the Labour government is funnelling taxpayer money into green energy projects via the newly formed, publicly-owned Great British Energy. With £8.3 billion earmarked over the next five years, this vehicle will back projects in wind, solar, nuclear, and tidal power, further supporting the country’s ambitions to become a global leader in clean energy.
