A major current project for Fisher German’s utilities team is to act on behalf of National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) on the North West Coast Connection Project (NWCCP).

The Project

The NWCCP is a project to connect the proposed Moorside nuclear power station to the existing NGET network. The project could potentially provide network capacity and connectivity for other energy generators. Two 400KV connections are proposed, one route north to Carlisle and one south to Barrow in Furness using a tunnel under Morecombe Bay to Heysham.

It is anticipated that an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in 2017 with construction taking place from as early as 2019.

Fisher German’s role

Team members from our Ashby, Stafford, Knutsford and Chester offices have been involved in the project. They have worked as part of a wider project team with two other firms also engaged to ensure continuity of approach. 

To date our team has –

• Contributed to the methodology for referencing, using previous project experience
• Referenced land to identify all interests for the 65km route between Moorside and Barrow in Furness
• Completed an internal review of Registered Titles to assess and schedule all minor interests
• Organised access to land under licence within the project corridors for Environmental Assessments
• Assisted with consultation events and change requests applications from landowners

Our bespoke project management tool, the Utilities Database (UDB) has enabled us to manage the large numbers of interests whilst linking with our geographic information system (GIS) to produce detailed plans to meet the demands of the project.

Future work

Future work will include more consultation events, help with the compilation of data for formal consultations and negotiation of land rights prior to the 2017 DCO submission.

Our team are very proud to be involved in National Grid’s biggest live infrastructure project and there have been challenging deadlines from the outset. To date we have completed our work in line with agreed deadlines and ambitious overall programs. We look forward to progressing this project with National Grid over the coming years. 

For further information, contact Mark Gilkes on 01530 410822 or email here mark.gilkes@fishergerman.co.uk