North Somerset electricity line could go underground

Bosses who want to put a 400,000 volt overhead electricity line through North Somerset are being urged to consider putting the cables underground.

National Grid plans to create the new line to bring electricity from the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point on to its transmission network.

The power giant is looking at several options, along two 'route corridors'. These could include closing down the existing 132,000-volt overhead electricity line, which runs parallel to the M5 between Bridgwater and Avonmouth, and putting the 400,000-volt line on that route. The second option is to construct a new 400,000-volt line parallel to the existing line. Another is to create a power line east of the existing line.

If the scheme goes ahead it would see 160-ft pylons along the route. Depending on the final route, the new overhead line would be 37 miles long and built in 2016 at a cost of around £2 million per mile.

In response to residents' concerns, Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose has written to National Grid asking it to release all details of their evaluation of the routes.

According to the company's own guidelines it should have looked at placing the lines underground. However, despite research by the MP's office, none of these details seem to be publicly available.

At the moment National Grid is only considering overhead lines, and seems to have discounted placing the lines underground or on the bed of the Severn Estuary.

Mr Penrose said: "Many people are rightly concerned about the environmental impact that these new pylons could have, so we need to make sure that every option has been considered properly.

"That's why I'm concerned that National Grid hasn't provided accessible data on the costs and benefits of placing the lines underground, despite their own guidelines saying they should. These kinds of options are often unworkably expensive, but local people deserve to know the details so we can see for ourselves what the pros and cons of each one are."

A National Grid spokesman said: "Undergrounding the line would be massively more expensive – between 12 and 17 times that of installing an overhead line. There are also environmental issues from putting the lines underground, including cutting up swathes of land.

"We're obliged under the terms of our licence to construct things in an efficient and economical way.

"Nothing has been decided about this line and nothing is set in stone and we can still consider undergrounding lines in certain places if it is a viable option.

"We've a number of public consultation sessions and it's vital people come along."