Mid-Wales Connection Project

Michael Fallon Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Michael Fallon)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) on securing this debate. The need for and the impact of electricity network infrastructure is an important and sensitive issue. I welcome the opportunity to explain the need for upgrading our existing electricity network, to clarify the approach when deciding where and how new infrastructure is delivered, and how that relates to the proposals for Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. I understand, not least because my hon. Friend champions them so articulately, his concerns about the impact that onshore wind development can have on communities.

We have made it very clear that onshore wind farms must be appropriately sited and that local communities should be properly engaged and see real benefits from hosting them if they choose to do so. My hon. Friend knows that I cannot comment further on individual applications, but to accommodate the new generation, irrespective of onshore wind, but including nuclear power and offshore wind, the existing transmission network needs to be expanded. Before I turn to the proposed electricity connections in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, it might be helpful if I explain the wider approach to how we decide on new network infrastructure.

Under the current regulatory framework, it is for the network companies to submit proposals for new infrastructure to the regulator, Ofgem, and to the relevant planning authorities. The proposals must be based on a well-justified need case, such as new generation connection or maintenance of a safe and secure network. The companies also propose routes and types of infrastructure, and in doing so they are required to make a balanced assessment of the benefits of reducing any adverse environmental and other impacts of new infrastructure against the costs and technical challenges of doing so following extensive consultation with stakeholders. Those requirements are set out in their licence obligations under the Electricity Act 1989 to develop economic and efficient networks and to have regard to the preservation of amenity and the mitigation of effects that their activities might have on the natural beauty of the countryside.

In addition to the legal requirement to consider the wider impact of new infrastructure, Ofgem published in July 2013 information for stakeholders on how that should be taken into account. That clarifies the fact that network companies are required to consider wider impacts and alternative solutions to overhead lines. That regulatory approach is reinforced by the Government’s energy national policy statements. They set out the framework for factors to be considered when consenting to an infrastructure project of national significance. They make it clear that for electricity networks cost should not be the only factor in determining the type of network technology used, and that proper consideration should be given to other feasible means of connection, including underground and subsea cables.

[Glyn Davies]

I thank my right hon. Friend for making that point, but all I can say is that when people in mid-Wales speak to National Grid or SP Energy Networks, who will do the 100 miles of cable between the hub, they say that it would cost six times as much to build a line from Shrewsbury to north Shropshire, so it will do that on only a small portion of it. They will not do the rest of the lines purely because of the cost back to the wind farm companies. That is what they tell us. That is what they tell me.

[Michael Fallon]

I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration and how his constituents feel about it. In a few moments I will turn to the specific issues in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. I was explaining how we have reinforced the framework and laid the additional duty to consider both the impact on the countryside and alternatives such as underground or subsea.

Within that framework, National Grid, which owns the transmission network in England and Wales, published a new approach to building new transmission infrastructure, putting greater emphasis on mitigating the visual impact of new electricity lines while balancing that against the need to manage the impact on costs, which ultimately are funded through our constituents’ energy bills. I hope that that balanced approach provides more reassurance to areas potentially affected by cables and pylons that alternatives to new overhead lines are considered fully and very thoroughly. Since the costs and technical difficulties vary so much from project to project, it is also important that each one is assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the right planning decision is taken each time.

The Government consider that the costs and benefits of undergrounding electricity lines are important. That is why my Department supported an independent study to give clarity on the practicality, whole-life costs and impacts of undergrounding and subsea cabling as alternatives. That report was published in January 2012 and its findings are generally consistent with the comparative costs that National Grid has quoted when evaluating options on current projects. It should provide a useful point of reference to inform the planning process.

Let me turn to the potential need for and development of network infrastructure in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. The application to connect the proposed wind farms in mid-Wales will be decided by the appropriate planning authorities and Ministers, and it would not be appropriate for me to give a view on the particulars of the project or on the proposed wind farms, which are, as my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire said, currently subject to a public inquiry. However, I certainly recognise that many people feel very strongly about overhead lines and other network infrastructure, and about the impacts they can have on the landscape. Effective consultation with local communities and other interested parties is a vital part of the planning process. When making proposals for new infrastructure, network companies have to demonstrate that alternatives were considered and why the preferred option is justified. That consideration must show that stakeholders have been engaged effectively.

National Grid has been undertaking a pre-planning applications consultation within the framework that I set out earlier. Last year, it sought views on the preferred route option and substation site, including some undergrounding of lines. National Grid has received more than 200 replies to its latest consultation, which closed in November, and more than 500 people attended drop-in events that it hosted. That demonstrates the very strong local interest in the proposals and in their potential impacts. It also shows that National Grid is engaging with local communities as it develops its proposals.

National Grid plans to publish its final proposed design for the connection towards the end of this year for further consultation. After that, it expects to submit its applications for consents in 2015. I am encouraged by the greater stakeholder engagement and consideration being given by National Grid to alternatives to overhead lines since the new planning framework was introduced. That is the behaviour that the planning and regulatory frameworks now require.

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the subject again. It is important that we understand that although our challenge is to build a low-carbon economy, based on an energy mix that meets our environmental targets and security of supply needs, that, in turn, requires an expansion in the transmission network to accommodate the required new generation. However, deciding where and how that infrastructure is delivered requires informed and balanced consideration of a number of factors, including not only costs, but the environmental impacts and the needs of local communities, as well as the needs of the country as a whole.

The planning and regulatory approval processes for new electricity network infrastructure require that stakeholders are properly consulted on those important decisions, and that their views are demonstrably taken into account when the proposals are finalised for final consultation. That process is now under way in Montgomeryshire and Shropshire, where National Grid is consulting stakeholders in developing its proposals. I strongly encourage those with an interest to continue to engage with National Grid in that process and to help ensure that the right decisions are made. I again thank my hon. Friend for drawing the House’s attention to this important set of proposals.

Question put and agreed to.