Tunnel vision for electrical supply?

An extra-long extension cable isn’t going to cut it, so how will National Grid get an abundance of energy across Morecambe Bay?

With the possibility of a new nuclear power station popping up near Sellafield, there is the not inconsiderable problem of getting 3.4 Gigawatts of electricity out into the network. By my calculation, that’s roughly the same as having the kettle and the iron on at the same time (whilst using the toaster) multiplied by Wayne Rooney’s salary. Or “more than you want to test if it’s on by putting your wet finger on it”, as it is also known.

The existing infrastructure isn’t up to it, and five years of having a jolly good think about it has resulted in National Grid coming up with a couple of electrifying ideas it rather amusingly calls “emerging preferences”. Or to put it another way: “We think you’re possibly going to be a bit angry about all this, and our PR department want to be clear it isn’t definite yet, so here’s some baffling Management-speak to make us sound clever”.

After a consultation in 2012, these two finalists are:

Follow the route of existing cables, North from the new power station to Harker, near Carlisle.

Or head South, across the Barrow Peninsula, then tunnel under Morecambe Bay to Heysham.

A 12 week consultation starts in September, where more information on the proposed route of cabling will be revealed, so you’ll have plenty of time to work out if they’ll be digging up your front garden in the next decade, or popping a pylon in the local play area.

Also available will be a couple of other options which aren’t quite so “emerging” in their preference, including the idea of cabling through South Lakes, which has almost certainly got the London Set fretting if it’ll devalue their holiday cottages.

The idea of incorporating a transport option into the proposed tunnel has been ruled out (as if the possible £3bn bill wasn’t already scary enough) which seems a shame. A couple of million volts, a confined space and lots of water seems like such a fun idea, too. And who doesn’t want to go to Heysham!

Mind you, £10bn worth of investment would be a positive for our area, along with 21,000 jobs.

Plus, you won’t need to start worrying about the rose bushes needing to be moved just yet either – The final decision to even go ahead with the project won’t take place until 2018, with building proceeding a couple of years after that. The first time the ‘on’ switch gets flicked is at least a decade away.

If you want more information and details on consultation events, head on over to www.northwestcoastconnections.com Whatever the detailed proposals reveal, way before anyone heads to the coast with a spade, one thing is for sure - sparks are going to fly.

This post first appeared as my "Thank grumpy it's Friday column" in the North West Evening Mail on the 25th of July 2014. You can view it on the newspaper's website here

Unfortunately, it seems to have gone straight in to their column archive section. Shame that, as it was the sort of flippant piece about a serious subject that seems to irk people sufficiently to result in some comments being added. As these are rarer than rocking horse poo, that would have been good.

(Enjoying the novelty of playing some MP3 CDs of mash-ups, and seeing the track counter hit 70+.)

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