as spectre of Tryweryn new Welsh battleground

'Ring of steel' alert hovers over major

- RORY FRANCIS

In its £58bn Beyond 2030 plan, the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which runs the National Grid, envisaged a route running between Bangor and Swansea. This is to be a “double circuit” line - meaning pylons. These will carry “high tension” power cables, their description neatly capturing the anxiety they’re creating in parts of north Wales.

An illustrative map of the route shows it running directly through the national park.

Rory Francis, director of Cymdeithas Eryri, supports grid decarbonisation but said wrecking some of Wales’ most breathtaking landscapes would be an “act of sacrilege”.

He added: “The National Grid has a policy, known as the Holford Rules, which calls on them to avoid national parks if at all possible. We're calling on them to follow this policy, by routing the line off-shore, around the coast, subject to satisfactory environmental assessments.”

The Holford Rules mean Eryri ought not to be worried. Besides, NESO says its map is entirely indicative and bears no relation to its final plans, which are still some way off being confirmed. Which begs the question, which other routes are possible? One speculated route would take the north-south line down the Caernarfonshire coast and across Pen Llyn, squeezing through the gap between its National Landscape (AONB) and Eryri National Park.

From here, a sub-sea cable could be routed to Swansea via Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.

Some £207m is being spent to bore a 3.4km tunnel under the Dwyryd Estuary near Porthmadog.

As, overtly, the idea is to replace 3km of unsightly pylons that are spoiling views of Eryri's mountains, the idea of erecting new pylons near the national park seems unlikely.

By connecting the dots of evidence, a more feasible route appears to lie further east. A new substation is already planned at Gwyddelwern, near Corwen, to service proposed onshore wind farms near Bala and a huge battery storage site nearby.