National Grid 2015 Annual Report Download - page 30

Samantha Webb is
one of National Grid’s
UK overhead line
apprentices, training
atour Eakring facility
inNottinghamshire.
Strategic Report
Principal operations continued
UK Electricity Transmission
What we’ve achieved during 2014/15
The full tunnel network on our London Power Tunnels
project has been completed, and the remaining
works programme is forecast to complete ahead
ofschedule and under budget. We have also
completed the development of a £164 million asset
replacement and customer connection project
forWimbledon.
We made progress on substation and cable
construction work for several new Network Rail
connections, as well as Crossrail connections in
London. These connections are required to support
the national railway electrification programme from
2015 to 2017.
We achieved a significant engineering milestone,
installing the first ever series compensation device
onthe UK network. This device, which adds capacity
to a transmission circuit, can increase power flows
from Scotland. With both National Grid and Scottish
Power series compensation in service, the Scotland-
England boundary capacity is expected to increase
by 1 GW.
We have continued to develop the innovative T-pylon
and are considering where it could be offered
alongside other connection options when developing
new transmission circuits. The first T-pylon has been
installed at our Eakring training facility.
Our Visual Impact Provision (VIP) project gathered
pace. Our policy to make use of the £500 million
allowance under RIIO to mitigate the visual impact
ofour overhead lines in National Parks and Areas
ofOutstanding Natural Beauty was agreed with
Ofgem. A stakeholder advisory group, including
representatives of organisations with a national focus
on our natural heritage, is helping us choose which
transmission lines should be prioritised and how the
fund should be allocated.
We agreed an RPI-linked bank loan facility of
£1.5billion with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
This is thelargest ever single loan by the EIB and is
now available to fund capital investment in National
Grid Electricity Transmission plc.
We also deployed new tools and systems to our field
workforce, winning the Mobile Innovation category
atthe SAP UK Quality Awards.
Priorities for the year ahead
Safety: Make sure our suppliers and employees
manage their safety performance when working
nearour transmission assets. This includes seeking
evidence that they are using effective safety
management systems.
Maintenance: Establish a programme to change the
way we plan and deliver all work on our assets by
balancing risk, performance and delivery costs.
Hinkley Point C connection: Continue to progress
the regulatory submissions needed for the Hinkley
Point C connection project to secure the funding
fordelivery.
Visual Impact Provision: Through our VIP project
we will identify the final locations where the visual
impact of our networks will be reduced.
Data and technology: Continue to improve how
wedefine and capture the network data that
helpsusmake better decisions on our assets
andrespondmore quickly to customer demand
fornewconnections.
What we do
We own the electricity transmission
system in England and Wales. Our
networks comprise approximately
7,200 kilometres (4,470 miles) of
overhead line, 1,500 kilometres
(932miles) of underground cable
and 336 substations.
Market context
Although demand for electricity is generally increasing
around the world, in the UK it is expected to remain
broadly flat over the next five to 10 years.
Changes in the sources and characteristics of
generation connecting to our network, such as wind
and nuclear generation, mean we need to respond
by developing the way we balance and operate
ournetwork to accommodate these sources.
Over the last two years, some generators have
delayed their connection dates to the network
andthis means our future investment profile for
electricity transmission is flatter than in previous
years. However, we are ready to respond to
connection dates when we need to. We will
continue to renew our network to deliver the
network reliability our customers require as
efficiently as possible.
In focus:
Electricity transmitted
across our network
291,041
GWh
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