The MP for South Suffolk is demanding an explanation over costs after National Grid announced it would not be running underground cables along part of a major infrastructure project.
The energy giant confirmed it is to install overhead lines through the Waveney Valley as part of its Norwich to Tilbury project, rather than running cables underground, as it had pledged in a previous consultation.
It has been slammed as a ‘contemptible’ and ‘disgraceful’ by council leaders, amid fears it will ‘decimate’ the particular uniqueness of the East Anglian countryside.
Conservative MP James Cartlidge said: “I was very disappointed to learn that National Grid has already decided not to underground any of the proposed pylons through the Waveney Valley.
“Of course, my overall position is that the entire Norwich to Tilbury route should be undergrounded using HVDC (a method of transmitting largeamounts of electricity over long distances).
“The detailed study into the East Anglia transmission options, undertaken by ESO, confirmed that underground HVDC is cheaper than pylons when using a 2034 delivery date.
“I was also particularly concerned to read National Grid’s latest community newsletter, which includes what appears to be a very inaccurate statement on cost comparison between pylons and underground HVDC – stating that underground HVDC will cost five to 10 times more than overhead lines.
“This is way out of kilter with the above-mentioned study which, to my knowledge, is the only investigation into cost comparison of transmission options in East Anglia. I have written to National Grid seeking an explanation.”
The news that National Grid will not lay underground cables also follows last year’s Valued Landscape Assessment, a report jointly commissioned by Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council.
The report concluded that the length of the Waveney Valley expresses ‘many special qualities and is a valued landscape’.
Published by Suffolk News.
