Dispute about the cost of pylons

Study reveals cost of burying power cables has been “greatly overestimated”

Rural campaigners have secured a victory in the fight against huge overhead pylons after a new report revealed that burying cables was cheaper than the “greatly overestimated” cost outlined by National Grid.

A study commissioned by the Infrastructure Planning Commission found the repeated claim that burying cables would cost 20-25 times more than overhead pylons was incorrect.

Authors of the report found that underground schemes were instead more likely to cost 4.5-5.7 times more.

But while cheaper than initially claimed, over a 40 year period the cost of buried lines per kilometre could still be around £10m-£24m – considerably more expensive than overhead pylons which are calculated at £2m-£4m per kilometre over the same timeframe.

Last year, Protect Kent, the county’s branch of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), raised concerns over plans to build pylon developments – usually 130ft to 180ft high –across huge swathes of countryside in west Kent and north east of the county.

Although National Grid would not confirm any set routes, conservationists told this newspaper there were two major power lines proposed; one running from Rowden near Croydon through west Kent to Lydd, and the other from Canterbury to Richborough.

The west Kent plan was blocked by the Government at the end of last year and this recent report could potentially put the final nail in the coffin of any overhead development in that part of the county, much of which includes protected Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Spokesman for Protect Kent Jamie Weir said the organisation welcomed the new report.

“It shows that the real cost is nowhere near the inflated figures which National Grid has been quoting and we believe that they should immediately halt any plans for lines in Kent until a proper, full consultation has taken place,” he said.

“We have some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country and we firmly believe that undergrounding must be explored fully before any new lines are built.”

Senior energy campaigner for CPRE Tom Leveridge added: “We believe we have been vindicated in our claims that National Grid has historically over-estimated the cost of undergrounding power cables.

“We want National Grid to call a halt to any planned construction and restart the consultation process, but this time with the real costs and benefits made clear.

“We are also calling for a further study that looks at the wider social and environmental costs of energy transmission.”

The deputy chief executive for Campaign for National Parks, Ruth Chambers, said the report was significant for the landscape of the UK.

“It will prevent cost being used as an excuse not to place infrastructure underground,” she said.

“There will now be a more level playing field between overhead and underground technologies, making it easier for solutions that respect England’s finest landscapes to be implemented.”

National Grid hit back at claims it had “greatly overestimated” the cost of underground cables stating the findings were broadly in line with the costs the company had been quoting.

David Mercer, major infrastructure development manager, said: “This report will be a valuable contribution to the public debate on the right balance between visual impact and costs that must ultimately be paid for by consumers.”

The National Grid has been the main supplier of overhead pylons in the UK for 60 years.