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4 August 2008 - National Grid has released fresh details about how it intends to support the 35 GW of renewable energy that is expected to come online by 2020, outlining plans for a £10bn ($19.6bn) overhaul of the UK's transmission and distribution networks, reports Business Green.
The need to connect intermittent and remote sources of wind power to the grid has emerged as one of the largest obstacles facing the government and energy companies as they seek to meet the UK's target of generating 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
However, National Grid, the company responsible for managing the network, has revealed it is considering a number of options to tackle the problem.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Chris Bennett, future transmission networks manager for National Grid, said that the company and the energy industry as a whole was ready to "undergo great structural changes".
"We are moving from a system dominated by a small number of large power stations to something far more diverse," he explained. "Our network needs to adapt rapidly to those changes."
He revealed the company was investigating a number of projects designed to connect the next generation of wind farms that are expected to provide around a third of the UK's electricity by 2020 and large population centres.
In particular, he confirmed plans for new high voltage lines across mid-Wales to connect Welsh wind farms to the West Midlands and other large population centres.
He also revealed the company was weighing up whether to upgrade the current "interconnector" lines that carry power south from Scottish wind farms, a strategy that would likely face significant planning obstacles, or instead invest in new undersea cables off the eastern and western coasts.
The plans are being put together ahead of a major new report from energy industry watchdog Ofgem that is expected to set out changes to the regulatory regime and incentive package governing the grid.
The report, which is due for release in October and follows lengthy consultation with the energy companies, is expected to make it easier for wind farms to connect to the grid, primarily through the introduction of new rules allowing National Grid to begin work on connecting wind farms to the grid as soon as they have been granted planning permission and not only once they are completed.
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