More than £80m of the funding will be spent by National Grid Electricity Transmission and Scottish Power Transmission on a package of projects to increase the amount of electricity that can flow between the high-voltage networks of England and Scotland.
Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission will spend a further £11.5m on upgrading its network to connect generation in the north of Scotland.
Ofgem has also allowed National Grid to spend £1m on initial development work on a proposed new power cable linking Pembroke and Wylfa in Wales. This link may be required to accommodate new nuclear generation in north Wales and offshore wind generation in the Irish Sea.
Stuart Cook, Ofgem’s senior partner for Smarter Grids and Governance, said: ’We have approved more than £400m extra investment in the high-voltage grids across Britain in less than a year. We are now assessing the business case for other network upgrades needed so Britain can reach its renewable energy potential.’
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