National Grid to review Connections project
NATIONAL Grid has said it will look again at Connections project after two major new power generators said they were not planning to connect to the grid in Lancashire.
National Grid had planned the project to connect a number of new pwer stations along the Lancashire and Cumbria coast as well as major offshore windfarms.
However, it has now announced that it would reconsider its route after EDF said that it did not plan to link its new nuclear site at Heysham to the grid and Wyre Power also cancelled its connection agreement for its proposed gas-fired plant at Thornton Cleveleys.
The company said that it still needs to connect proposed wind farms and the new Moorside Power Station planned for Sellafield but added that the six options which it had identified over the past two years would now have to be reassessed and infrastructure requirements for Lancashire scaled back.
Senior project manager Peter Fendley said: “The cancellation of the two agreements in Lancashire means from that we now have fewer generators to connect and a reduced amount power to export from the North West.
“Our initial reassessment indicates that any new connection coming south from Moorside could link into the existing grid system in either the Heysham or Quernmore area of Lancashire, but more work is required to identify a specific location.”
The firm said that details of the revised options and background information will be made available on the project’s website once consultation starts in spring/summer.
