REWIRING BRITAIN FOR AN ERA OF CLEAN ENERGY

National Grid, which owns the high-voltage electricity grid in England and Wales, is rebuilding it in a government-backed drive to attract investment and tackle climate change, writes Stanley Reed from London

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In a career spanning more than 30 years, John Pettigrew has seen big changes in the electricity industry. He started out in 1991, working to introduce natural gasfired power plants to the grid, gradually replacing polluting coal plants.

Now, once again, he is managing a tectonic shift to an electrified economy that runs on renewable energy like wind and solar power. But these sources of power generation are far trickier to manage than their coal and gas predecessors.

"Effectively, what we're doing is reconfiguring the whole network," said Mr Pettigrew, chief executive of National Grid, which owns and operates the high-voltage electricity grid in England and Wales.

Mr Pettigrew was emerging from a tunnel nearly 20 miles long that National Grid has bored deep underground at a cost of about £1 billion (about $1.3 billion). The shaft, which workers ride through on bicycles, will carry new cables to feed the power-hungry offices and residential communities of London.

Mr Pettigrew and his company are in the spotlight these days. The Labour Party government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which came to power in July, is taking a close interest in the electric power system, which it sees as a primary vehicle for delivering political and economic goals.

A more robust, versatile grid will be crucial not only for tackling climate change but for securing Britain's place on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, which requires vast amounts of power to run data centres.

The government aims for 95% of Britain's electricity to come from what it calls "clean" sources like wind and nuclear by the end of the decade, up from about 60% in 2023. At the same time, demand for electric power is expected to surge.