Wales plans to ban steel pylons as government launches consultation

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   Wales plans to ban steel pylons as government launches consultation

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 23, 2026Checked Oct 23, 2026

   “Building pylons in Wales could be a thing of the past, with the country's ministers instead wanting to bury energy cables underground The Welsh government has announced plans to ban the use of traditional steel pylons to support electricity lines over which it has control. Plaid Cymru ministers favour burying cables underground instead. Plans for a network of pylons in the Towy Valley have faced a fierce local backlash with local Plaid politicians speaking out against the proposals. The company behind the plans, Green Gen Cymru, has been asked to comment but had previously said that undergrounding cables would be significantly more expensive than running them overhead. Prohibiting the use of large steel lattice pylons for new lines up 132 kilovolts was a Plaid Cymru manifesto pledge before May's Senedd election. Launching a consultation on its policy on Friday, the Welsh government said undergrounding electricity circuits could "reduce the visual impact of electricity infrastructure, helping to protect landscapes and local amenity". It also said that burying cables could make them less vulnerable to severe weather and could reduce the potential impact on birds and other wildlife. However, the consultation document also acknowledges that undergrounding is "generally considered more expensive to install and maintain and could create construction impacts during installation".”

2. 2

   Electric power transmission (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 23, 2026

   “Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. A long conductor used to facilitate such movement is called a transmission line. The interconnected transmission lines form a transmission network. In the power industry, electric power transmission is distinct from the local wiring between high-voltage substations and customers, which is typically referred to as electric power distribution, even though power distribution is semantically a type of power transmission in common parlance. The combined transmission and distribution network is part of electricity delivery, known as the electrical grid. Transmission lines transmit either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). To increase the efficiency of long-distance electric power transmission, the voltage is often increased for transmission, then reduced for local distribution. This is because higher voltages corresponds to lower currents and lower losses caused by such currents. The AC voltage level is often changed with transformers.”

3. 3

   Levers and obstacles for implementing public engagement practices in electricity grid development.

   Heliyon (Boyle et al.)Published Jul 23, 2024Checked Oct 23, 2026

   “This process of reflective practice seeks to provide findings for other organisations internationally undertaking a journey towards establishing new engagement practices. The establishment of such practices is critical for enabling deeper societal engagement on the energy transition. A research gap exists in relation to the organisational development of new public engagement practices within institutions tasked with developing infrastructure associated with the energy transition. This creates a challenge whereby ever-increasing calls for public engagement are made, but no lessons exist with relation to how such new practices can be embedded within an organisational strategy. We contribute to this space through answering the research question: what are the key levers and barriers for organisation change towards new forms of public engagement in infrastructure delivery? The reflections outlined through this paper have been provided by individuals in different positions across the organisation. The paper develops key findings which add to the literature in relation to levers and obstacles for implementing public engagement and associated factors.”