Chesterfield Willington

Overview: As part of National Grid’s Great Grid Upgrade, there is a proposal to build nearly 60km of a new 400kV overhead line between Chesterfield and Willington to enable more energy to be carried between the north of England and the Midlands. 

The new line would connect a new substation in Chesterfield to an existing substation in Willington via new pylons and conductors. 

The Great Grid Upgrade is vital for connecting increasing amounts of renewable energy and for increasing electricity demand to meet net-zero targets, as the existing grid is outdated, was designed for fossil fuels and lacks the capacity for modern needs. 

The upgrade will build significant new transmission infrastructure to transport clean power from renewable sources to communities, increasing energy self-sufficiency, creating jobs and ensuring the UK can transition to a cleaner, more secure energy future. 

 

Background: Ardent was appointed to the National Grid Land Rights and Referencing Services Framework in 2023 as one of five providers.  

Following that, the team was instructed on the Chesterfield to Willington project providing a range of services to National Grid from November 2023. 

 

Approach: Ardent assisted on the non-statutory consultation, holding initial meetings with landowners who might be affected by the 60km route to get feedback and arrange access for surveys. 

The continued survey work is allowing the engineering and ecology teams to fine-tune the route before going to statutory consultation with an informed proposal. 

After the original non-statutory consultation, the feedback received led to an additional route option being considered, which added more landowners, with around 2,000 being consulted overall. 

Although this is an overhead line project, a DCO (Development Consent Order) is still required, Ardent is supporting National Grid by securing the land access and rights needed to deliver the route that has now been earmarked. 

The team will be engaging affected landowners – around 220 within the red-line boundary – from around December onwards so they feel informed ahead of the public release of the route. 

This is an opportunity to gather formal feedback and allow for any final adjustments to be made based on the evidence provided. 

The team will also start discussions on voluntary agreements, with an aim to get as many signed up as possible before the examination stage. That way, inspectors can see meaningful consultation has been carried out, and compulsory powers are only sought as a last resort. 

In the vast majority of cases, Ardent is looking to secure rights rather than ownership to be able to build and access towers along the route. 

On top of that, the team is undertaking land referencing and compiling a complete inventory of everyone affected, which is critical to the DCO application. 

 

Benefits: The Great Grid Upgrade is crucial to the UK’s energy resilience and is a huge undertaking that requires a huge amount of expertise to deliver. 

Ardent is playing a major supporting role in the project, underlining, once again, the important work the company does in supporting the development of infrastructure.   

 

Next steps: Ardent is working towards statutory consultation in 2026, with the DCO application to follow soon after. 

The aim is to start building in 2029 should the application be successful.