T-pylons for Hinkley Connection now fully installed

The last of the T-structures’ 232 diamond-shaped insulators – which hold the high-voltage conductors in a diamond ‘earring’ shape – was recently lifted by crane into place on a T-pylon between Yatton and Kenn in North Somerset by National Grid and principal contractor Balfour Beatty.

According to National Grid, the project will enhance the connection for six million homes and businesses to the low carbon energy that will be produced at Hinkley Point C, the UK’s first new nuclear plant for more than 30 years. A key selling point of the Hinkley Connection Project was the new T-pylon, designed to be less obtrusive than traditional lattice pylons.  

"National Grid’s T-pylons are the first new design for overhead electricity lines in over a century and will play a central role in connecting low-carbon energy to millions of people when Hinkley Point C begins generation,” said Roxane Fisher-Redel, senior project manager for National Grid on the Hinkley Connection Project.