UK's National Grid Plans £54B Wind-Power Network Upgrade

"There are now more than 11,000 wind turbines on and offshore, which produce nearly a quarter of the UK's electricity," reports the BBC. But rather than rely on future windfarms to build their own connections to the grid, the country's national grid operator, National Grid ESO, plans to spend 54 billion ($64B) on its biggest network upgrade in 60 years:National Grid ESO, which runs the electricity network, said the plan it has laid out would enable the government to deliver 50GW of offshore wind power by 2030 - a third of the UK's electricity demand - while creating 168,000 jobs. It claimed the network could lead to more than 50bn of investments over the next eight years.... These network upgrades are deemed essential to accommodate and integrate a new raft of renewable energy projects also announced on Thursday. A total of 23 gigawatts (GW) of electricity - 24 million homes worth at current power usage - worth of contracts were awarded this morning to bidders wishing to build new renewable facilities. The auction saw offshore wind prices hit a new record low at a quarter of the current cost of gas generated power. The article notes 21,000 people signed a petition urging longer offshore networking instead. One advocacy group complains that building onshore power lines through regions like rural East Anglia is "short-sighted and shameful."

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