The voice of the networks

How can this website be improved? Give us your feedback

A green recovery powering a renewables bonanza in communities

07 June 2021

Electricity network operators' £300 million investment will help to boost renewables and community energy schemes across Britain.

 

SP Energy Networks: North Wales

SP Energy Networks is working with a community in North West Wales to unlock capacity on the existing network to facilitate the installation of a hydro generator in the village of Mynydd Llandygai, near Bethesda.

 This project will provide domestic customers in the area with the opportunity to use locally produced renewable energy.

This investment will create capacity in the existing network through the installation of new assets which will release capacity that is currently constrained. By doing so, the community will be able to realise its ambition to switch to local hydro power.

The project has already secured the necessary planning permission from Gwynedd County Council and gained the appropriate licences from Natural Resources Wales to extract water from the Afon Galedffrwd river.

The project is being driven by the community itself and supports a Welsh Government target that at least 1 GW of renewable energy capacity should be locally owned by 2030.

There is already an expectation that all new energy projects in Wales should have at least an element of community ownership.

Western Power Distribution: Truro

In Truro Western Power Distribution are replacing two 132/33kV transformers, bringing on 30MW extra capacity for demand and for generation.

Reflecting a £2m investment there are a multitude of uses for this new capacity. The area has abundant existing and proposed solar resources as well as a proposed garden village where a number of low carbon technologies are being considered.

Crucially, Cornwall is also an area with many homes which do not have access to the gas network. With improved capacity in the county, more homes in Cornwall will have the option of switching to electric solutions.

UK Power Networks: Hastings

UK Power Networks is investing £12,000 in Hastings local area capacity. This will allow the local community to build the infrastructure for a new heat pump for a community-run building open to the public directly enabling the transition from gas heating to a greener future.

About us

Energy Networks Association (ENA) is the industry body representing the energy networks. Our members include every major electricity network operator in the UK. The electricity networks are at the heart of the energy transition. They directly employ more than 26,000 people in the UK, including 1,500 apprentices. They are spending and investing £33bn in our electricity grids over the coming years, to ensure safe, reliable and secure energy supplies for the millions of homes and businesses reliant on power every day.

Press contacts

You can contact ENA's press office by emailing press@energynetworks.org. For urgent or out-of-hours enquiries from journalists, please call 0204 599 7691.