Friday 25 October 2019

North England’s distributed power capacity ‘has quadrupled in last decade’

The North of England's distributed power capacity has quadrupled in the last decade.

Northern Powergrid, the electricity distribution network operator for the region, says more than 4GW of wind, solar and other decentralised power is now directly connected to its network, up from just 1GW in 2009.

This figure is larger than the capacity of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station at 3.3GW and almost four times the capacity of the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 1.2GW Hornsea One facility.

Patrick Erwin, Policy and Markets Director at Northern Powergrid, said: "We’re already adapting our network to enable a safe, reliable and affordable carbon-free energy system for our eight million customers.

"What we need is industry-wide clarity on the future role of our energy networks to help achieve net zero emissions before 2050; that would allow us to act at pace and the confidence to invest."