Written question asked by Lord Vinson (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Marland (Conservative) on Wednesday, 23 June 2010.

Energy: Wind Turbines

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost of upgrading the national grid from Scotland to London to take the surplus load from wind turbines due to be installed in Scotland as part of any undertaking to meet European Union carbon reduction targets.

Answer: The Electricity Networks Strategy Group (an industry group jointly chaired by DECC and Ofgem) report Our Electricity Transmission Network: A Vision for 2020, published in March 2009, set out the network companies' view of the potential transmission investments that would be needed to accommodate the growth of renewable and other low-carbon generation to 2020. These transmission reinforcements will support expected new generation, including in Scotland, where scenarios suggested between 6.6 and 11.4 gigawatts of renewable generation to 2020 are expected. The report estimated the capital cost of these reinforcements as around £4.7 billion, with around £2.7 billion of that specifically in Scotland or to convey electricity from Scotland to other areas of demand. However, transmission investments in England and Wales will be also significantly influenced by the flows of power from Scotland. The report is available on the ENSG website: http://www.ensg.gov.uk/ index.php?article=126. In addition there will need to be further investment by transmission owner companies in the existing system through Ofgem's ongoing price control mechanism to accommodate changing flows of power across the system to meet the 2020 targets. As submissions from these companies are made during this process, these funding requirements will become clearer.

Secondary information