Creative thinking for a Net Zero grid

MP’s bright idea to link the Rampion 2 windfarm and AQUIND interconnector projects shows how NIMBY oppositionism can be overcome

Many of Britain’s biggest problems stem from our inability to build new infrastructure. From housing to airport capacity, new rail lines to clean energy infrastructure or water reservoirs, the story is the same. If the UK died then “Not in My Back Yard” (NIMBY) would be an appropriate epitaph for its headstone.

MPs are supposed to mediate these and other conflicts in our society. In practice, however, many become NIMBY campaigners themselves in the face of any development in their constituencies, irrespective of the national interest.

How uplifting then, to discover a counter-example, in the shape of Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, relating to a two key projects helping advance Britain towards Net Zero carbon.

Offshore wind power is now the key clean electricity technology being developed in Britain. The Government has set a target of 50 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity by 2030. The eventual need has been forecast at over 100 GW by 2050. That’s a lot of turbines, a lot of new cabling coming ashore to connect with the national grid, and a lot of new trenching or overhead cabling causing transport disruption or visual impairments for local people.

There is already an offshore wind farm operating near Andrew Griffith’s constituency: the 400 MW capacity Rampion 1. Now, though, plans for a much larger Rampion 2 wind farm capable of generating up to 1,200 MW of electricity, are under discussion.

Rampion 2 is proposed to connect to the national grid at Bolney, inland from Brighton, with a new on-shore cable route running through Mr Griffith's constituency to the coast between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. There is strong local opposition along this route from people fearing damage to community and landscape, as well as impact on traffic, ecology and flooding.

In a recent letter to the Planning Inspectorate, Andrew Griffith has proposed an elegant solution: rather than creating a new onshore connection for Rampion 2, with all the attendant harms and political controversy, instead tie it into a planned electricity interconnector between England and France whose proposed offshore route runs just a few miles from Rampion 2.

Electricity interconnection to neighbouring countries is another key technology for decarbonising the electricity system. Britain already has nine operating interconnectors. The 2GW-capacity AQUIND Interconnector project is one of the most advanced of the next wave of projects. From its national grid connection at Lovedean, north of Portsmouth, the giant cable is proposed to enter the sea at Portsmouth, then run under the sea-bed to Normandy in France.

Linking offshore wind farms and interconnectors is increasingly seen as a key component of both British and broader European efforts to move towards Net Zero carbon. Many experts envision the North Sea, in particular, becoming a giant offshore electricity grid, generating clean electricity and also transporting it between multiple nations.

The pluses of such multi-purpose interconnectors, or MPIs, are forecast to be very significant. As neatly summarised by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, “MPIs are expected to offer increased benefits in terms of lower capital and operating costs through shared use of transmission infrastructure, reduced environmental community and spatial impact (due to fewer coastal landing points), reduced curtailment, and better integration of renewables into the grid.”

In his letter to the Planning Inspectorate, Mr Griffith notes the many objections that have been raised against a new onshore cable route for Rampion 2 and asks why there has not been evaluation of an offshore connection to the AQUIND Interconnector instead. It is a very good question.

Out at sea the two projects are close neighbours. It would require only a few miles of offshore cabling to connect Rampion 2 into AQUIND, certainly less distance than would be required to connect the wind farm directly to shore.

Even more costs could be saved because an offshore connection would eliminate the need for Rampion 2 to have its own onshore cable route, currently due to be about 40km long, running close or through many settlements.

In the words of National Grid, which is itself involved in several interconnectors, connecting the two projects would also turn AQUIND into a “next generation interconnector”, unlocking the full potential of offshore wind, strengthening security of supply and speeding up the clean energy transition.

Alongside this compelling technical case is a political one - connecting Rampion 2 and AQUIND could help unblock the planning process and get both projects actually built.

Rampion 2 is at an early stage in its application, but already the warning signs of local opposition are flashing, driven largely by residents' concerns about the local environmental impacts of 40km of deep trenching. Eliminating this threat would greatly reduce the force of NIMBY arguments against Rampion 2.

AQUIND has been subject of a much longer application process, but, similar to Rampion 2, the main driver of local opposition has been its proposed onshore cabling route, which includes urban parts of Portsmouth. Connecting the interconnector to Rampion 2 would not change this. But it would make the case for building AQUIND stronger by adding the integration of clean British wind-generated electricity to the list of its benefits.

Both Portsmouth MPs, Penny Mordaunt of the Conservatives and Stephen Morgan of Labour, have fought hard against AQUIND. Perhaps they could learn from Andrew Griffith that when vital national interests are at stake innovative thinking is better than simple opposition.