HL Deb 04 March 2004 vol 658 c120WA
The Duke of Montrose

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the extra electrical transmissions capacity needed from major outlying electricity generators in Scotland to the main areas of demand, and the possible cost in the short and long term. [HL1536]

Lord Sainsbury of Turville

The DTI's Transmission Issues Working Group has reviewed the location of future generation and the reinforcements required. The first stage of the work required, the Beauty to Denny upgrade, was recently announced by Scottish & Southern, and will be submitted for consents in the autumn. This 220 km upgrade, costing approximately £200 million, is expected to allow an extra 1 GW of renewables to be connected in Northern Scotland, and should be available by 2007–08. The overall cost in Scotland to connect an extra 6 GW of generation was estimated at £1.5 billion.