Cables will go underground where needed, says National Grid boss

Steve Holliday, Chief Executive of National Grid, said that while it costs more to bury the cables underground, it is willing to pay the price if it means preserving the countryside.

The National Grid's proposed Mid Wales Connection Project would see a 33-mile 400kv power line link a sub-station harnessing power from proposed wind farms in North Powys into the grid at Lower Frankton, near Ellesmere.

It has already revealed that it wants to bury eight miles of the cable past Meifod, near Welshpool.

Mr Halliday said National Grid as a company looks at whether burying the cables underground will be worthwhile in its projects and often buries up to 20 per cent of the lines.

Speaking generally about the subject of blight caused by powerlines in the countrysides, he said: "It is expensive to bury the cables underground but I do see it happening more and more.

"We have huge consultation into plans which we carry out and you have to get the balance right. There can be 20 per cent underground now, which compared to 40 or 50 years ago was zero."

The National Grid said an update on the Mid Wales Connection Project will come later in 2014.

It said that following the latest consultation period on the preferred substation site in Cefn Coch, near Llanfair Caereinion and the draft route, it is considering all the feedback to help develop a final proposal, which will include sites and designs for pylons.

This proposal will be presented to communities later this year, when the National Grid will be asking for further comments and opinions from the public.

Mr Holliday also called on more to be done to plug a shortage of engineers in the country.

In an interview with Radio Four's Farming Today, he added: "There are 700,000 businesses with a skills shortage. We require a lot of engineers. This year there were 60,000 graduate engineers, but we needed 85,000.

"There is also a huge shortage of apprenticeships at the moment too."