NESO has issued an update to its 2024 plans for the future for Great Britain’s electricity infrastructure for the 2030s.

In the Beyond 2030 Update report, NESO is recommending a total of £89bn investment of network investment, with high capacity offshore high voltage direct current (HVDC) links off the eastern and western coasts forming the backbone of the system.

This cost is 53 per cent higher than the previous estimate, with initial forecasts closer to £58bn.

By the mid-2030s NESO expects to see more than 30 per cent increase in electricity demand, and network reinforcement will be needed to ensure electricity from new clean energy sources can travel efficiently to where it is needed. This could also support new emerging industries like AI data centres, and the electrification of industry heating and transport.

The main changes since 2024 are because offshore network design has continued to evolve. In some cases, this has led to reconfigurations of projects and connection points to reduce complexity and improve overall deliverability.

Likewise, transmission owners (TOs) have continued to develop onshore network options. This has improved the maturity of some options in Beyond 2030 and provided greater clarity on how they could be delivered.

The update also reflects an updated system pathways framework from the latest Future Energy Scenarios (FES) published in 2025 and include alignment with the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. Connections reform and queue updates have resulted in change too, including updated assumptions from the Gate 2 to the Whole Queue process. These changes both provide a more realistic project delivery pipeline focused only on those projects likely to progress and what that means for network requirements.

Julian Leslie, director strategic energy planning and chief engineer at NESO said: “Delivering energy infrastructure efficiently and on time is critical to ensuring the system remains resilient and affordable for everyone. Our electricity system must meet growing future needs to unlock economic growth and enable job creation across every sector and part of Great Britain. Providing clarity on where our future network is needed helps give certainty to industry to enable continued delivery and provides confidence to support investment decisions.”

---