"nopylons" Team
Affordable Routes Avoiding Giant Pylons in the Duddon.
Nopylons is a group of concerned residents of south Cumbria. The Team came together following the publication in 2016 of the National Grid proposals for a new transmission line to carry power from the proposed nuclear generating station at Moorside, near Sellafield to the main north-south trunk route at Heysham. This NorthWest Coast Connection (NWCC) scheme envisages two separate 400kV transmission lines: a northern one of approximately 50 miles from Moorside to Harker, near Carlisle; and the southern one of about 52 miles to Heysham. The proposed northern connection is to be carried on new larger pylons replacing a line of existing 132kV pylons. For the southern connection it is proposed also to adopt the route of an existing 132kV circuit. However, where the existing line passes through the section of the Lake District National Park between Drigg and Silecroft the plan is to bury the cables. From Silecroft the cables would revert to an overground pylon route following the Whicham Valley, crossing the Duddon from Lady Hall to Foxfield, skirting Angerton Marsh to reach Kirkby, and then running along the spine of Furness to reach the site of the former Roosecote power station near Barrow. Here the cable will enter a new 13 mile long tunnel driven under Morecambe Bay to arrive at the Middleton terminal near Heysham. The nopylons Team recognise the steps taken by National Grid to protect the western edge of the Lake District National Park and the margins of Morecambe Bay from the visual harm of a pylon line but argue that a matching regard needs to be shown to the route from Silecroft to Roosecote which closely borders the National Park, affects its setting and shares with it many of the valued landscape characteristics. Employing the engineering skills and experience of its members and their contacts within the power transmission industry the Team has researched and costed two alternative options which could avoid much of the detrimental effects of the NWCC southern route. The preferred solution is for an offshore route from Selker Bay near Bootle to Walney, taking the cables directly to the tunnel entrance at Roosecote. A second option would be to reduce the harm to the Duddon Estuary by taking the cables through a tunnel from Millom to Askam with pylons merely from Askam to Roosecote. As you will now see, each of these options appears to be achievable within similar cost parameters to the National Grid’s proposals.
Introduction.
Introduction
The nopylons website starts with beautiful photographs and film clips of the Threatened Landscape of the Duddon Estuary which National Grid propose to ruin with their proposed routing of the North West Coast Connection.
The section titled The Nuclear Story puts the proposed Moorside project into a national perspective with other nuclear power stations.
The website then outlines the use of Submarine Power Cables and how they are laid.
Nopylons Offshore Route from Selker Bay west of Bootle to South Walney Island is then described.
In the Offshore Savings section, the website identifies savings of approximately £400 million by not erecting massive pylons around the Duddon Estuary and by avoiding undergrounding south of Bootle.
In the Offshore Costings section, the cost of the offshore option is set against the savings identified above and the offshore Selker Bay to Walney /Roose route resulting in an overall cost increase of 0.5% over and above the £2800m onshore route using massive pylons. Since the £2.8bn does not included mitigation arising from the Consultation, we believe that Selker, Walney - Roose will be cheaper than onshore in the final analysis
The website then describes the roles of:
An alternative option of a Duddon Tunnel to carry cables under the estuary is described.
The Links section of the website includes a selection of links from the OFGEM website following their consultation on the NWCC.
The nopylons website starts with beautiful photographs and film clips of the Threatened Landscape of the Duddon Estuary which National Grid propose to ruin with their proposed routing of the North West Coast Connection.
The section titled The Nuclear Story puts the proposed Moorside project into a national perspective with other nuclear power stations.
The website then outlines the use of Submarine Power Cables and how they are laid.
Nopylons Offshore Route from Selker Bay west of Bootle to South Walney Island is then described.
In the Offshore Savings section, the website identifies savings of approximately £400 million by not erecting massive pylons around the Duddon Estuary and by avoiding undergrounding south of Bootle.
In the Offshore Costings section, the cost of the offshore option is set against the savings identified above and the offshore Selker Bay to Walney /Roose route resulting in an overall cost increase of 0.5% over and above the £2800m onshore route using massive pylons. Since the £2.8bn does not included mitigation arising from the Consultation, we believe that Selker, Walney - Roose will be cheaper than onshore in the final analysis
The website then describes the roles of:
- OFGEM, the electricity regulator highlighting their decision to compete the NWCC connection
- PINS the Planning Inspectorate for National Infrastructure Planning
- BEIS. The Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.
An alternative option of a Duddon Tunnel to carry cables under the estuary is described.
The Links section of the website includes a selection of links from the OFGEM website following their consultation on the NWCC.
Now take a Youtube tour of the view that so impressed Wordsworth, the Duddon Panorama, below.
"Take a last You Tube look at the Duddon Estuary before it is permanently fenced in by National Grid!
