Balfour Beatty today announces that it has been appointed to deliver the £214 million North and South 400kV overhead line project on behalf of National Grid.
Awarded through National Grid’s Overhead Line Design and Build Framework, the contract is one of three awards within the framework and forms a critical part of the Hinkley Point C (HPC) connection scheme, linking the new nuclear reactor to the national grid.
Securing the North and South 400kV Overhead Line project marks the third major package of works Balfour Beatty will deliver at HPC. This follows the company’s appointment to the nuclear power station’s electrical works package in a joint venture with NG Bailey in 2015, now part of the MEH Joint Venture, and the tunneling and marine works package in 2017.
As part of the contract, Balfour Beatty will design, supply, install, test and commission a new overhead line spanning 48.4km and crossing through the Mendip Hills in Somerset, where Balfour Beatty is currently delivering cable works under a separate contract for National Grid. On completion, the new line will connect HPC with a new substation in Avonmouth, Bristol.
The company will utilise National Grid’s new T-Pylon design, marking the first time this technology has been used on a live transmission asset and significantly improving efficiency, reliability and safety by vastly reducing the need for the workforce to work at height.
Mark Bullock, Balfour Beatty’s Chief Executive Officer for its Rail and Utilities business, said: “Our extensive knowledge and unique capability in delivering major complex Overhead Line schemes, makes us ideally positioned to play a key role in helping to deliver the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK for more than 20 years.
“We look forward to working with National Grid to successfully and safely deliver low-carbon electricity for around six million homes across the UK.”
Works are due to commence this month, with completion expected in summer 2025. At construction peak, the project will employ a workforce of over 150, providing local employment as well as apprenticeship and graduate opportunities.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
- Balfour Beatty (balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 28,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
- Our main geographies are the UK & Ireland, US and Far East. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
- Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks. From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support clients in the development of some of the UK’s most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.
- Significant projects in the company’s current portfolio include the c. £47 million Fort Augustus to Fort William 132kV Transmission Reinforcement project and the c. £43.5 million Beauly to Keith 132kV Modernisation programme on behalf of Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc, the £55m London Power Tunnels project for London Underground which will deliver a new 32km electrical superhighway in London and a €219 million contract in a consortium with Prysmian Group to install a 65km electricity cable between France and Great Britain on behalf of ElecLink Ltd.
