A landmark redevelopment of Yorkshire's high-voltage network to supply homes and business with low carbon energy has been given consent following support from international law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD).
National Grid Electricity Transmission, which operates the high voltage electricity network in England and Wales, has been granted a Development Consent Order for its Yorkshire GREEN Energy Enablement Project by Claire Coutinho, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The approximately £400m upgrade and reinforcement of the county's power network will see new infrastructure including substations, overhead lines, and underground cables installed.
WBD has advised on all aspects of the planning consent for the project, with a team led by partners Victoria Redman and Jonathan Bower advising on all stages of the application from submission through examination.
The firm's Planning and Infrastructure team provided advice on the consent application, with Managing Associate Helen Robinson and Solicitors Dana Cook, Adam Richards, and Grace Billings also assisting with the project, while Senior Project Manager Melinda Kovacs provided holistic project support.
Victoria said:
"This landmark development consent order for the Yorkshire GREEN Energy Enablement Project is a fantastic achievement, not only for our valued client National Grid, but the team who worked tirelessly on helping secure this milestone, the first of Ofgem's Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) onshore projects to be granted a DCO as part of the wider Great Grid Upgrade.
This project will play a critical role in supporting the country's move to cleaner and more secure energy supplies, and we are thrilled our team's wide-reaching expertise in the sector helping get developments like this off the ground has proven useful to National Grid, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they keep moving forward the nation's power network."
The redevelopment forms a vital part of government plans to strengthen the country's electricity network and support the move to net zero, with the British Energy Security Strategy released in 2022 announcing an aim to increase energy from offshore wind to 50GW by 2030 – enough to power every home in the UK.
