What challenges will our UK power and energy sector face over the coming months and years? What should its priorities be? In this blog we’ll discuss this further…
Change is here within the UK power and energy and sector, as it goes through a state of evolution and investment. The challenges will continue over the coming months and years; not least the growing population placing additional pressure on resources and the impact of global events being felt at home, with volatile energy costs and demands on imported supplies. Above all of this is of course the looming net zero targets, a global call to action, with the focus (rightfully) placed on greener and renewable energy sources.
All of this can be seen in the Labour government’s manifesto, with the party’s Green Prosperity Plan pledging to double onshore wind, triple solar power and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. The proposal of a new publicly owned company, Great British Energy, would also invest £8.3 billion in energy initiatives within the private sector. In fact, looking at industry forecasting for the years ahead and it is energy and water projects that are forecast to drive the most growth within civil engineering.
As we seek to decarbonise the power and energy sector, there is understandably set to be a huge emphasis on clean energy, with the rise of new wind farms, solar farms and Energy from Waste facilities. That said, it’s not just about generating greener and cleaner energy – it’s also about how this is used.
Previously, if electricity had been generated then it had to be used, due to being difficult to store. This could often lead to excess, unused electricity having to be earthed back into the ground, a clearly wasteful approach. To combat this, significant investment is being placed into the construction of Battery Energy Storage Sites (BESS), built onto the side of substations to help futureproof the network.
This is perhaps one of the key missions facing the sector moving forwards: how we can ensure the infrastructure is built to last, resilient in the face of climate change and built for our growing towns and cities. Investment is clearly needed in upgrading and futureproofing our existing National Grid infrastructure as well as building anew, including overhead lines (OHL), pylons, transformers and substations, with some over 50 or even 100 years old and simply not fit for future purpose.
This will be the focus of The Great Grid Partnership, with numerous Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) projects in the pipeline across both offshore and onshore, worth in the region of £9billion. It is set to include over 500km of new OHL over the next seven and half years, 1330 new electricity towers (requiring 35,000 tonnes of steel – equivalent to more than four Eiffel Towers) and over 8,000km of OHL conductor, with new and upgraded lines totalling the distance from London to Los Angeles.
Delivering such immense investment presents its own challenges, not least the need for a skilled workforce and resources, materials, equipment and specialist plant. There is also the need to balance sustainability goals with local environmental impact, with many wind and solar farms known to be located in rural, protected areas.
Support is needed at every stage of the supply chain and project sequence, from considering site access and material supply to facilitating the safe and efficient delivery of the works themselves.
Do you have an upcoming job in the power and energy sector? Talk to us today about your temporary works needs.