Network investment to boost green recovery

We have joined forces with electricity network companies across the UK to unlock additional strategic investment in the grid to support low carbon developments - driving green jobs and growth in our region.

We will be investing up to £80million in the electricity grid across the Midlands, South West England and South Wales between now and 2023 to boost green growth and jobs across our region.

To help target this network investment most effectively, we are calling on community groups, local authorities, developers and green investors to submit evidence of any ‘ready to go’ green projects that require a connection to the electricity network, where there could be capacity restrictions. The required evidence helps to ensure that our investment is going to the network areas where investment will be most effective, and supports the move to a net zero carbon emission economy.

Through existing knowledge and future projections, we have already identified a number of areas where there is interest in low carbon technology projects.

However, we are encouraging community groups, developers of low carbon infrastructure and local authorities to submit details of ‘ready to go’ green projects, to help validate their proposals or identify areas not currently identified for investment.

Where there is clear evidence that upcoming low carbon technologies and green energy projects are ready to connect to the electricity network, we will use this in our planning and direct investment to the areas where this can be delivered most effectively over the next two years.

WPD Operations Director Graham Halladay said: “During the pandemic, our staff have been working hard to support customers at a challenging time, but also looking to the future. Innovation is at the forefront of our minds and decarbonising the country is essential to the lives of future generations.

“With this additional investment, backed by Ofgem and the Government, we can ramp-up the network requirements for not only renewables, but battery storage, electric vehicles, heat-pumps and all of the other technologies we will need in the future.”

The deadline for this feedback to be submitted is 19 March 2021.

We will also be holding a series of regional webinars to discuss the green recovery investment in more detail. Further information on this and how to submit your evidence can be found here.