Octopus seeks to erect electricity pylons to take on National Grid

HOUSEHOLD energy supplier Octopus is seeking to take on the National Grid by building its own electricity pylons, as frustration grows at the pace of the network’s expansion.

Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus, said the business has held talks with Ofgem, the regulator, about opening up the planning and building of the power grid to competition.

His company argues it can build sections of the high-voltage transmission network – the backbone of the electricity system – more quickly and efficiently than the National Grid, helping to speed up the rollout of clean energy.

The shake-up would end the National Grid’s 30-year monopoly on transmission infrastructure in England and Wales, amid complaints from wind and solar farm developers that they have to wait a decade to connect to the system.

Thousands of new pylons must be built across Britain as part of the switch to net zero. Giving up oil and gas will boost demand for electricity, requiring more infrastructure to carry the power to homes and businesses.

Octopus established a foothold in electricity infrastructure after its takeover of Eclipse Power Networks, a Buckingham-based business, in 2021.

Eclipse only builds small-scale, local power distribution networks but Mr Jackson wants to expand its activities to cover transmission infrastructure.

Octopus has been inspired by Indian energy company Sterlite Power, which has used computer software in India and Brazil to design power grids in a way that saves time and money. It maps projects to avoid areas where it will be complicated to secure planning permission or where there will be objectors, which prevents schemes from becoming bogged down.

Mr Jackson argued that more competition in Britain would encourage the market to come up with innovative ways to satisfy local opposition and could even result in fewer pylons needed to be built overall.

He said: “If we could find ways to build power infrastructure that are faster and cheaper, who wouldn’t want it? In areas where people are worried about pylons, there can be ways of building infrastructure where there might be less community resistance.”

Asked whether Octopus would seek to build electricity infrastructure itself, he confirmed: “We’ve been talking with Ofgem about the possibility.

“There are so many different construction technologies and different ways of solving it, for example, in an area where people don’t want this infrastructure. It is ripe for innovation.”

‘There can be ways of building infrastructure where there might be less community resistance’