Competition Begins For New Electricity Pylon Design
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and National Grid are running a competition to design new electricity pylons – a design which hasn’t changed since the 1920’s.
The electricity industry and ministers say new pylons will be needed to connect as many as 20 new power stations which will be constructed over the next 10 years. The pylons will also be needed to connect sources of renewable energy such as wind turbines and solar installations to the grid.
The competition will be run by the DECC, National Grid and the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) in the hope that architects, designers and engineers will develop new designs for carrying electricity cables across the country.
The electricity pylons we see now were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in 1927. They were designed to withstand high winds and lightning strikes and to cope with the tension and load within the cables themselves.
Pylons are quite controversial with some people hating them, especially when they cross areas of outstanding natural beauty. The hope is that a new pylon design will not only be able to supply electricity for the next generation but will also protect the countryside.
Chris Huhne, the Energy & Climate Change Secretary, said “The dual challenge of climate change and energy security puts us on the brink of a new energy construction age. The equivalent of 20 new power stations is needed by 2020, much more beyond that, and they’ll need connecting to the grid. It’s crucial that we seek the most acceptable ways of accommodating infrastructure in our natural and urban landscapes”.
He added “I hope the pylon design competition will ignite creative excitement, but also help the wider public understand the scale of the energy challenge ahead of us”.
The reason we need new infrastructure is because as coal and nuclear power stations are decommissioned the new forms of energy generation will include sources of renewable energy including offshore wind and wave power. It means that more remote regions and coastal areas will have to be connected to grid – areas which haven’t been connected before. These new forms of energy generation will have to be connected to the grid to deliver both business electricity and domestic electricity across the country.
Nick Winser, Executive Director UK of National Grid said, “Much of the new low-carbon generation is planned for remote or coastal areas, which means new infrastructure will be needed to get the electricity we need to our homes, businesses and vehicles. While underground connection will be a viable solution in some sensitive locations, new and replacement pylons will be needed and National Grid is equally keen to support the development of the most visually acceptable overhead solutions”.
The competition is set to close on July 12 and National Grid said it would seriously consider developing the winning design for use in the future. The winner will be announced in October.