Fisher German’s Canterbury office has been re-appointed by National Grid to continue working on the Richborough Connection Project, a major infrastructure project in east Kent.
The project includes the construction of 20km of electricity pylons and required substation infrastructure, forming a new 400kV overhead line between Richborough and Canterbury. Fisher German has assisted National Grid with the planning process, including land referencing, consultation and securing the consent. The new instruction covers the construction phase, including the delivery of land rights and negotiating compensation for the impact of construction works, along with related modifications to the local electricity distribution network for UK Power Networks, also a Fisher German client.
The Development Consent Order (DCO) for the project is a significant landmark, as this is National Grid’s first major overhead line project to start construction under a DCO, the new process introduced by the Planning Act 2008 dealing with nationally significant infrastructure projects.
Once built, the new line will connect Nemo Link – undersea electricity cables between Herdersbrug in Belgium and Ramsgate in Kent – to National Grid’s high voltage electricity network. The new line is due to be energised in late Autumn 2018. It is intended to integrate the UK into a single European electricity market via existing and proposed interconnectors, allowing the trading of power via undersea cables and ensuring that the UK has a safe, reliable and secure electricity supply.
James Ingram, who has been involved in the project since initial landowner meetings took place in late 2013, said: “We are delighted to have our instruction renewed, having worked with the National Grid team for four years through the planning phase, during which we used our expertise to help conduct the consultation process, secure land access, arrange agreements with landowners and represent the project in planning hearings. We were extremely pleased to be able to contribute to securing this major DCO, which was consented in August, and to see construction start in October.
“We are involved with a number of projects throughout the UK where we work with clients to meet the challenges associated with replacing and reinforcing the energy infrastructure to ensure security of supply of energy through existing cable and pipeline apparatus, new interconnectors, oil and gas storage, and potential renewable and sustainable resources. We are also working with another developer to secure land rights for an interconnector, ElecLink, which is proposed to run through the Channel Tunnel.
“We now look forward to working with National Grid on the construction phase of the project.”
for further information contact James Ingram on 01227 477974 or email here
