Sir, The national grid has the statutory task of delivering a reliable and economic supply of electricity across the United Kingdom. The growth of offshore wind farms means that the existing grid will need to be extensively upgraded. No one disputes the move towards renewable energy sources but the implication of more and larger pylon lines has yet to be grasped.
A dozen such projects are due to be considered shortly by the new infrastructure planning commission and among the first will be the upgrading of the capacity between Bramford, just west of Ipswich, and Twinstead, four miles south of Sudbury. This will involve either the upgrading of an existing route in south Suffolk or the construction of a new route largely using 1960s technology through the fragile environment of the historic wool villages and churches of the area. To its credit the national grid is undertaking a consultation process, although how much this will weigh against the large costs involved remains to be seen.
Advertisement
What is needed is a public debate about the means of delivery of the nation’s electricity, the technologies available, the environmental impact on the UK’s reducing countryside and, of course, the relative costs.
Michael Moore
Ipswich, Suffolk