The world’s first ‘T-pylon’, the first new design for an electricity pylon in Great Britain for nearly a century, has been erected in Somerset. It will be one of 116 such pylons along a 57km route.
The pylons have a single pole and T-shaped cross arms that hold the cables in a diamond ‘earring’ shape. They are 35m high, 30% shorter than National Grid’s traditional lattice pylons, and have a smaller footprint using less land.
The new pylons form part of National Grid’s Hinkley Connection project, a £900m investment to transport electricity produced by Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. They will run between Bridgwater and Portbury, other than through the Mendip Hills, a protected area, where the new connection goes underground. The project also includes the removal of 249 electricity pylons between Bridgwater and Avonmouth.
