In 1926 the UK was a global pioneer in establishing a national Central Electricity Board, now the UK’s electricity networks have revealed some of the work underpinning the next 100 years of meeting the country’s energy needs.
Electricity network operators are set to invest over £120bn by 2050, with the aim of delivering a network that is able to meet our future energy needs, and allow the UK economy to deliver the next generation of smart UK industries.
This investment, and the work of 26,000 qualified energy network personnel, will help ensure that the UK will have the affordable, clean and secure home grown power it needs in the years ahead. The forthcoming Electricity Networks Sector Growth Plan will map the positive economic impacts of this investment.
This investment will also enable the of adoption of low carbon technologies that will empower consumers to reduce direct fossil fuel use while reducing their total energy demand by 47% by 2050.
ENA’s Essential Brief today also revealed fresh updates that showed the exceptional resilience of today’s network, with over 99.99% reliability and the impact of the UK’s approach to network innovation, which supports projects from satellite monitoring of remote infrastructure and the use of AI modelling to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive, Energy Networks Association said, “Energy infrastructure is evolving quickly to deal with the demands being placed on it, and it’s good to remember the titanic effort that is going into building a grid that can ensure UK homes and businesses can get the affordable, secure and clean home grown power they need. In the 100 years since the UK’s grid formally came into being it has grown into a reliable, cost effective and innovative national network that countries around the world seek to emulate – and the next 100 years are set to build on and surpass this heritage.”
