History of the National Grid

[ABB125]

Are there any good resources (books, websites etc) which give a detailed account of the history and development of the UK electricity grid? I'm particularly interested in things like "following the opening of the new power station at X, there was a need for additional transmission capacity towards region Y. As a result, a new high voltage line was installed between X and Z, the main distribution centre for region Y".

Thanks for any help. I appreciate this is a somewhat niche topic!

 

[najaB]

Are there any good resources (books, websites etc) which give a detailed account of the history and development of the UK electricity grid? I'm particularly interested in things like "following the opening of the new power station at X, there was a need for additional transmission capacity towards region Y. As a result, a new high voltage line was installed between X and Z, the main distribution centre for region Y".

Thanks for any help. I appreciate this is a somewhat niche topic!

I'd be surprised if such a resource existed, if for no other reason than that the concept of a national grid was a relatively recent invention, compared to when power generation started.

I dare say you could occupy a few months going through the archives of the CEGB if you asked nicely enough.

 

[etr221]

I'm unaware of anyhing 'popular' so I would suggest start with Google (always a friend) and Wikipedia (tends to be a good start), and follow every link and search term you find; and hunt through the proceedings of the IEE and other professional organisations, and the annual and other reports of the various companies and other bodies involved. I see you give your location as a University: be prepared to become good friends with the University librarians!

I'd be surprised if such a resource existed, if for no other reason than that the concept of a national grid was a relatively recent invention, compared to when power generation started.

I dare say you could occupy a few months going through the archives of the CEGB if you asked nicely enough.

The concept of the grid was from the 1920s, it was complete by 1938. Wikipedia points at the report that proposed it.

 

[najaB]

The concept of the grid was from the 1920s, it was complete by 1938. Wikipedia points at the report that proposed it.

A bit earlier than I had thought, I believed it to be an immediate post-war project.

 

[ABB125]

Thanks both - I may go and see what I can find in the university library.

I'm mainly interested in this as "I'm curious about" rather than "I need to know", so searching the CEGB archives is a bit beyond how much effort I'm willing to put in (for the moment at least... )

 

[Magdalia]

I'm also interested in this so thanks to the OP for kicking this off.

I'm particularly interested in what happened in the 1960s, which had a huge impact on the railways.

In the 1960s the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) had a major switch in generating strategy. The old strategy was to shift coal long distances, mostly by rail, and have local generating capacity. The new strategy was to have large baseload coal fired power stations close to the coalfields, fed by short distance mgr trains, and then distribute the electricity over long distances via the National Grid.

The National Grid had considerable investment in new capacity to deliver this, high voltage cables either carried on pylons or buried underground. The Wikipedia entry for the CEGB is very sparse on the National Grid, but does give a table of kilometres of 275kV/400kV power lines in various years. This shows 400kV at zero in 1958 but nearly 10000km by 1968.

The source is given as Power in Trust: The Environmental History of the Central Electricity Generating Board by John Sheail published in 1991. This looks like it could be worth a look. The CEGB wikipedia page also has a link to a 36 page pdf The CEGB Story which I have downloaded to read later.

 

[2192]

"The concept of the grid was from the 1920s, it was complete by 1938. Wikipedia points at the report that proposed it."

I don't suppose there was anything higher than 132kv by 1938. Wasn't there a massive expansion with the Supergrid 400kv installed to get power from the midlands and Yorkshire power stations (where the coal was) to the south of England where most of the demand was?

 

[ABB125]

"The concept of the grid was from the 1920s, it was complete by 1938. Wikipedia points at the report that proposed it."

I don't suppose there was anything higher than 132kv by 1938. Wasn't there a massive expansion with the Supergrid 400kv installed to get power from the midlands and Yorkshire power stations (where the coal was) to the south of England where most of the demand was?

I believe that a large network of 275kV cables was installed in the 1960s, later much of it was upgraded to 400kV (along with additional new circuits built at 400kV to start)

 

[2192]

"I'm also interested in this so thanks to the OP for kicking this off. I'm particularly interested in what happened in the 1960s, which had a huge impact on the railways. In the 1960s the CEGB had a major switch in generating strategy. The old strategy was to shift coal long distances, mostly by rail, and have local generating capacity. The new strategy was to have large baseload coal fired power stations close to the coalfields, fed by short distance mgr trains, and then distribute the electricity over long distances via the National Grid. I suspect that the National Grid must have had considerable investment in new capacity to deliver this, high voltage cables either carried on pylons or buried underground. Any history on when long distance high voltage power lines were constructed would be very useful."

I worked as an engineer for CEGB 1963 - 1977. We avoided buried cables as much as we could as overhead transmission lines were much cheaper to build and the electrical losses were less. It was cheaper to have the power stations close to the coal fields if they were "base load", ie generating all the time, and then transmit power as electricity to where it was wanted. Didcot was an exception, being designed for "peak lopping", ie running at times of maximum demand in the south of England, and shut down eg at night. So for Didcot it was cheaper to run coal trains rather than strengthen the grid even more.

 

[Magdalia]

I worked as an engineer for CEGB 1963 - 1977. We avoided buried cables as much as we could as overhead transmission lines were much cheaper to build and the electrical losses were less. It was cheaper to have the power stations close to the coal fields if they were "base load", ie generating all the time, and then transmit power as electricity to where it was wanted. Didcot was an exception, being designed for "peak lopping", ie running at times of maximum demand in the south of England, and shut down eg at night. So for Didcot it was cheaper to run coal trains rather than strengthen the grid even more.

Thanks very much for this.

I've never really understood electricity! Were there technological advances that allowed higher voltages to be transmitted, for example going up from 275kV to 400kV?

And Didcot looked an exception to me, but for the first time your explanation has told me why!

 

[Lucan]

I worked as an engineer for CEGB 1963 - 1977. We avoided buried cables as much as we could as overhead transmission lines were much cheaper to build and the electrical losses were less.

I worked for them too, although not on the grid side. There was also the issue that the heat generated by the cables was a problem underground - while the cables do not generate a lot of heat it builds up. I was aware of only some very limited places with underground grid cables, one of them in the Lake District.

Were there technological advances that allowed higher voltages to be transmitted, for example going up from 275kV to 400kV?

One was the adoption of SF6 switches, which use sulphur hexafluoride gas to extinguish the arc that tends to be created when the contacts of a very high current switch are opened.

 

[ainsworth74]

Perhaps it's because I have no memories of the electricity grid under the CEGB (it being broken up and privatised around the same time I was born) but I must admit it does seem like one of the worst excesses of the privatising mania of that Tory government. It seems like they took an efficient and effective state run enterprise and gutted it leaving us with whatever the heck it is we have now. Certainly it doesn't feel like our electricity grid is as efficient nor effective as it was 30 odd years ago. But that's solely based on what I've read on the subject rather than personal experience. And it's not a topic I've spent any great time on to be fair! Though I, like the OP, would be interested in reading a slightly more "general" history book on the subject!

 

[2192]

"I worked for them too, although not on the grid side. There was also the issue that the heat generated by the cables was a problem underground - while the cables do not generate a lot of heat it builds up. I was aware of only some very limited places with underground grid cables, one of them in the Lake District. "

As well as scenic places like the Lake District, often if a lot of overhead routes were converging on a large substation the last 400 yards or so of some of them would be put underground, so there wasn't a great forest of pylons close to the substation. (I wasn't a transmission engineer either -- I taught apprentices how measuring instruments worked!)

 

[Magdalia]

The CEGB wikipedia page also has a link to a 36 page pdf The CEGB Story which I have downloaded to read later.

This is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the subject. I hope that the OP finds it helpful.

The easiest way to reach it is via the Central Electricity Generating Board entry in wikipedia footnote 5.

But it is a story rather than a history so there's a lot of detail still to find. I'd particularly like to see a sequence of maps showing the evolution of the supergrid.

It does include a bit on the extra costs of putting cables underground which is on page 16.

 

[Dai Corner]

Perhaps it's because I have no memories of the electricity grid under the CEGB (it being broken up and privatised around the same time I was born) but I must admit it does seem like one of the worst excesses of the privatising mania of that Tory government. It seems like they took an efficient and effective state run enterprise and gutted it leaving us with whatever the heck it is we have now. Certainly it doesn't feel like our electricity grid is as efficient nor effective as it was 30 odd years ago. But that's solely based on what I've read on the subject rather than personal experience. And it's not a topic I've spent any great time on to be fair! Though I, like the OP, would be interested in reading a slightly more "general" history book on the subject!

The National Grid (as in the network of cables transmitting electricity over long distances) seems as least as effective and resilient as it's ever been in the 50 odd years I've taken an interest in such things. This is despite the switch from old-fashioned but reliable coal fired power stations to unreliable renewables. When was the last time we had a widespread blackout?

 

[ainsworth74]

This is despite the switch from old-fashioned but reliable coal fired power stations to unreliable renewables. When was the last time we had a widespread blackout?

My mum had a power cut this afternoon actually

But I take your point! I dunno it just seems like the current grid and particularly the generation side, perhaps more so than the distribution side, is in a bit of state. See the lengthy delays in new nuclear power for instance.

 

[najaB]

But I take your point! I dunno it just seems like the current grid and particularly the generation side, perhaps more so than the distribution side, is in a bit of state.

The distribution network is in a bit of a state in some places, that much is for sure. The biggest problem grid-side is that there's a lot of renewable power up north that can't get down south where it's needed.

 

[eMeS]

Another aspect of power distribution is why did 50Hz (60Hz in the US) become standardised? Any others? Is it still the best choice? Aeronautical power distribution uses 400Hz, for reasons of reducing the weight of transformers etc. I believe.

Despite my studying electrical engineering at Uni, the only time I was taught anything about "3 phase" was when I was in the RAF doing a radar fitters course, back in 1958.

 

[Dai Corner]

My mum had a power cut this afternoon actually

But I take your point! I dunno it just seems like the current grid and particularly the generation side, perhaps more so than the distribution side, is in a bit of state. See the lengthy delays in new nuclear power for instance.

In all likelihood, and pedantically, the fault was in the local distribution network rather than the grid. That would have been the responsibility of the regional electricity board pre-privatisation rather than the CEGB and now the responsibility of the relevant distribution operator rather than National Grid.

The switch from fossil fuels to nuclear, wind and solar was always going to be difficult. We'll never know whether a nationalised industry, with the consequent even greater political interference, would have fared better.

 

[ABB125]

This is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the subject. I hope that the OP finds it helpful.

The easiest way to reach it is via the Central Electricity Generating Board entry in wikipedia footnote 5.

But it is a story rather than a history so there's a lot of detail still to find. I'd particularly like to see a sequence of maps showing the evolution of the supergrid.

It does include a bit on the extra costs of putting cables underground which is on page 16.

That's fascinating, well worth a read by anyone with a passing interest!
Also quite an interesting social history - this bit for instance:

Every Christmas we would have a social at a local hotel with a slap-up dinner, followed by each Department giving a turn. I remember a generously-built future Secretary of the CEGB dressed in ballet skirt and rugger socks doing a remarkable threesome with the equally hefty Cashier and Purchasing Officer. But the highlight was always the can-can by the girls of the typing pool, especially when the paper skirts didn't last the course!

 

[Magdalia]

The CEGB Story says that the first 150 miles of 400kV line was completed in 1965 (page 15). The wikipedia page for National Grid (Great Britain) says that this was from West Burton to Sundon, but does not give a source. The date is contemporaneous with the opening of West Burton power station, and also the Retford diveunder for the new mgr trains to get to West Burton.

Sundon is just north of Leagrave the electricity substation is close to the M1 and the Midland Main Line.

 

[High Dyke]

CEGB resources info here: https://www.nationalgrid.com/storie...you-ever-wanted-know-about-electricity-pylons

Oddlyenough, they've been replacing the insulators/wiring on the power line that runs from West Burton - Sundon (the project is ongoing). I've seen them working as the project goes through Lincolnshire.

 

[Snow1964]

There are still a few sections of 275kv

Found this map, red is 275Kv, blue the 400kv, black 132kv (the pink lines are gas pipes)

Network route maps

The UK plays a central role in the European gas system. Today, National Gas operates one of the largest natural gas transmission networks in Europe delivering energy to British consumers every day. In addition, the National Transmission System (NTS) is connected to the European Union’s internal...

www.nationalgrid.com

They are building a new route in Somerset (to new Hinckley Point nuclear station) and it uses the new T shaped pylons.

There are some existing pylons where wires are side by side (there are about 3 across a hill, crossing A46, just south of M4), presumably to lower height so that aircraft don’t hit them.

EDIT : just found an old science article with an earlier map and some history

Pylons: controversial giants in the landscape | Science and Industry Museum

Who knew pylons were so fascinating? Science and Industry Museum Archives Manager Jan Hicks, that's who...!

blog.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk

This site is also good for see where main distribution goes

Open Infrastructure Map

Open map of the world's electricity, telecoms, oil, and gas infrastructure, using data from OpenStreetMap.

openinframap.org

 

[Magdalia]

There are still a few sections of 275kv

Found this map, red is 275Kv, blue the 400kv, black 132kv (the pink lines are gas pipes)

Network route maps

The UK plays a central role in the European gas system. Today, National Gas operates one of the largest natural gas transmission networks in Europe delivering energy to British consumers every day. In addition, the National Transmission System (NTS) is connected to the European Union’s internal...

www.nationalgrid.com

They are building a new route in Somerset (to new Hinckley Point nuclear station) and it uses the new T shaped pylons.

There are some existing pylons where wires are side by side (there are about 3 across a hill, crossing A46, just south of M4), presumably to lower height so that aircraft don’t hit them.

EDIT : just found an old science article with an earlier map and some history

Pylons: controversial giants in the landscape | Science and Industry Museum

Who knew pylons were so fascinating? Science and Industry Museum Archives Manager Jan Hicks, that's who...!

blog.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk

This site is also good for see where main distribution goes

Open Infrastructure Map

Open map of the world's electricity, telecoms, oil, and gas infrastructure, using data from OpenStreetMap.

openinframap.org

Thanks for these. The Open Infrastructure map is particularly good.

Oddly enough, they've been replacing the insulators/wiring on the power line that runs from West Burton - Sundon (the project is ongoing). I've seen them working as the project goes through Lincolnshire.

Yesterday I was looking at Ordnance Survey maps trying to work out the route of the original 1965 400kV line from West Burton to Sundon. There seemed to be two possibilities, and the Open Infrastructure map gives me a way of describing them.

So is the original 400kV route via Wymondley (near Stevenage) or via Grendon (near Wellingborough)?

 

[mailbyrail]

The Science & Industry Museum in Manchester has a gallery devoted to this whole topic of electricity power generation and distribution and should be a planned destination for a visit when you get the chance - it's also got a big railway interest with Liverpool Road station and a range of railway items

 

[John Webb]

Another aspect of power distribution is why did 50Hz (60Hz in the US) become standardised? Any others? Is it still the best choice? Aeronautical power distribution uses 400Hz, for reasons of reducing the weight of transformers etc. I believe.

Despite my studying electrical engineering at Uni, the only time I was taught anything about "3 phase" was when I was in the RAF doing a radar fitters course, back in 1958.

I believe the use of low frequency AC is related to the 'skin' effect - as frequency increases more of the current is concentrated in the outer surface of the conductor. I cannot recall the detail of why this happens - it's 45 years ago since I got my physics degree! So over a long distance higher frequencies would need larger cables to keep the losses to the same level as lower frequencies.
In my first job in industry, working on small coil-wound components, this effect became appreciable even at some audio frequencies so we used 'Litz' wire - a quantity of small diameter insulated wires bundled together in a silk or cotton outer cover - to minimise the losses. Even more important at radio frequencies.
In an aircraft the use of 400Hz probably does not result in significant losses over the relatively short distances involved compared to many kilometres across the countryside!

 

[ABB125]

I believe the use of low frequency AC is related to the 'skin' effect - as frequency increases more of the current is concentrated in the outer surface of the conductor. I cannot recall the detail of why this happens - it's 45 years ago since I got my physics degree! So over a long distance higher frequencies would need larger cables to keep the losses to the same level as lower frequencies.
In my first job in industry, working on small coil-wound components, this effect became appreciable even at some audio frequencies so we used 'Litz' wire - a quantity of small diameter insulated wires bundled together in a silk or cotton outer cover - to minimise the losses. Even more important at radio frequencies.
In an aircraft the use of 400Hz probably does not result in significant losses over the relatively short distances involved compared to many kilometres across the countryside!

Do you know why 50Hz was chosen, rather than something lower?

 

[swt_passenger]

Do you know why 50Hz was chosen, rather than something lower?

I once read that following experimentation 50 Hz was considered the lowest frequency acceptable before incandescent light flickering would start being noticed by most people.

 

[najaB]

I once read that following experimentation 50 Hz was considered the lowest frequency acceptable before incandescent light flickering would start being noticed by most people.

Not the lowest, but certainly very close to the lowest. Also, the lower the frequency the bigger the transformer cores that would be needed. 50Hz is a good 'sweet spot'.

 

[Busaholic]

Are there any good resources (books, websites etc) which give a detailed account of the history and development of the UK electricity grid? I'm particularly interested in things like "following the opening of the new power station at X, there was a need for additional transmission capacity towards region Y. As a result, a new high voltage line was installed between X and Z, the main distribution centre for region Y".

Thanks for any help. I appreciate this is a somewhat niche topic!

Might I just suggest the Institution of Electrical Engineers, though they may have become part of the Institution of Electricity and Technology now? Back in the 1970s/80s I had a friend who was a member and I joined him as a guest on a few 'study tours' to places like the Thames Barrier. Like the Omnibus Society, of which I'm not a member, they may have brought out many learned reports available to their members but not available commercially, and possibly a library of these exists somewhere.