Seventy years later the grid needs a massive overhaul to transport electricity from where it is increasingly being produced – in the world’s biggest wind farms off Yorkshire, in the relatively shallow North Sea. Because of its geographic location close to the East Coast, Creyke Beck substation, just outside England’s largest village, Cottingham, which has recently been connected to Dogger Bank A and B wind farms, is set for further expansion.
However Mr Stuart who stood down from his role earlier this month to concentrate on campaigning in the general election said he “desperately looks for an argument in their invective and doesn’t find any”. Mr Stuart said targets of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 70GW of solar by 2035 are a “big ask” but are “still deliverable”, although ramping up on renewables is putting “enormous strain” on the grid.