Cross-country pylons 'cheapest and quickest' option

Tom McGarry from National Grid said all the alternative schemes had been considered

National Grid have said a 114-mile (180km) line of pylons across three counties is the only viable way of carrying electricity from offshore windfarms.

The structures are due to be installed between Norwich and Tilbury in Essex.

Campaigners have said they will ruin the countryside and alternative methods should have been considered.

The Prime Minister said in the Commons this week that he could not understand why Adrian Ramsay, Green MP for Waveney Valley, was opposing the scheme.

The line of pylons was originally planned to help the Conservative government hit its target of decarbonising electricity by 2035.

The new Labour government is now aiming to hit the target by 2030.

People living along the route have told the BBC the scheme will have a huge impact on an unspoilt landscape.

One said: "Pylons are ugly and this is an absolute disaster for the British countryside.

"They’re playing Russian roulette with our lives and destroying our homes."

The electricity cables will be carried on pylons apart from an underground section in the Dedham Vale/River Stour area on the Essex/Suffolk border, and similar underground cabling is being "considered" for the Waveney valley on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.

The pylons would run from Norwich to Tilbury in Essex, apart from two short sections between Ipswich and Colchester, where cables would be buried underground

Speaking on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme, National Grid's deputy external affairs director Tom McGarry said: "If it was cheaper and quicker to deliver it off-shore, then that's what we would be proposing, but it is not.

"We have assessed all the alternatives and we have to deliver this by 2030.

"We are encouraged by government and the regulator to come forward with the most cost-effective solution for consumers, because this is paid [for] by electricity bill payers."

The plan would see 114 miles (180km) of pylons across the countryside

A report by a National Grid company, Electricity System Operator, said that a hybrid system, with power travelling underwater and over land, would be possible if the project were delayed until 2034, but it would also be more expensive.

Mr McGarry said National Grid had "regulatory obligations" to connect to North Sea windfarms "when they're ready, and they will be ready by 2030".

"We're going to see more affordable electricity bills and the right infrastructure to deliver it on time."

Adrian Ramsay MP made a call in the House of Commons for the project to be paused

Some local authorities, including Suffolk County Council, have urged the government to pause the project while other alternatives, such as running more of the cables offshore, were considered.

The Green MP for Waveney Valley, Adrian Ramsay, supported calls for a delay in the Commons this week, but the Prime Minister urged him to "show some leadership" and back the pylons.