GridDesigning a new grid pylon
There are more than 88,000 pylons in the United Kingdom; they stand some 50-meters high, weigh around twenty tons, and carry up to 400,000 volts of electricity over thousands of kilometers of some of the most exposed, weather-beaten parts of Britain; the familiar steel lattice tower has barely changed since the 1920s; National Grid says it is time for a change
U.K. seeks a redesign of the old pylon // Source: yahoo.net
There are more than 88,000 pylons in the United Kingdom, including 22,000 on National Grid’s main transmission network in England and Wales. These stand some 50-meters high, weigh around twenty tons, and carry up to 400,000 volts of electricity over thousands of kilometers of some of the most exposed, weather-beaten parts of Britain. The familiar steel lattice tower has barely changed since the 1920s.
National Grid says it is time for a change.
Chris Huhne, the U.K. secretary of energy and climate change, last week opened a display featuring scale models of six striking designs for new electricity pylons to the public at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The “Pylon for the Future” display forms part of the London Design Festival and is open to the public until 5 October 2011.
Speaking to the finalists Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:
Britain will see the equivalent of twenty new power stations constructed by 2020, and we need to use electricity pylons to get this new, low carbon energy to your televisions and toasters, dishwashers and DVD players. We must make sure that we take into account the visual impact on the landscape and also the view of the public, and this is what the pylon design competition is all about. I am highly impressed by the quality of these designs and I hope everyone takes the time to get involved and give their view.
To coincide with this pylon design display, National Grid last week published its new approach to building new transmission infrastructure. National Grid said that using this approach, National Grid will put greater emphasis on mitigating the visual impact of its new electricity lines, while balancing this with the need to minimize household energy bills.
National Grid’s executive director U.K., Nick Winser said: “Connecting Britain’s new power stations to our homes and businesses will be one of the great infrastructure challenges of the next decade and beyond. Through the use of new technology, pylon design, extensive consultation and undergrounding where appropriate, our new approach will ensure we consider very seriously the visual impact of new transmission lines.”
Huhne commented: “National Grid’s approach is very welcome, and is consistent with Government policy set out in the National Policy Statements, which Parliament approved in July. Pylons are a vital part of the grid but people in areas potentially affected by new transmission lines can be reassured that alternatives to overhead lines will be actively explored, with undergrounding wherever justified.”
With a new generation of power stations due to come online, in the coming decades, new transmission lines will be needed to carry this new energy to homes and businesses. These lines will connect new sources of power generation, such as wind farms and nuclear power plants.
National Grid says its more sophisticated approach to the visual impact of transmission lines reflects collaboration with government and builds on the recently-designated National Policy Statements (NPS). National Grid will consider the visual impact of its new electricity lines with greater sensitivity to the British countryside, while balancing this with the need to minimize household energy bills. It will lead to greater focus on a range of mitigation measures such as undergrounding, re-routing, alternative pylon design.
On 23 May the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and National Grid called for designs for a new generation of electricity pylon. 250 submitted designs from around the world have been whittled down to just six finalists who have been working with the National Grid and Millennium Models to build scale models of their designs for the final judging panel.
As well as exploring the design of the pylon itself, the competition aims to explore the relationship between energy infrastructure and the environment within which it needs to be located. The company says the challenge is to design a pylon that has the potential to deliver for future generations, whilst balancing the needs of local communities and preserving the beauty of the countryside.
The public is invited to comment on the designs via the competition Web site until the 5 October and those comments will be taken into account by the judging panel when they make their final decision later that month.
A prize fund of £10,000 will be shared amongst the winning candidates and National Grid will give consideration to developing the winning design for use in future projects.
