National Grid and LineVision Expand Partnership to Lower UK Energy Prices

LineVision's technology is already delivering over £34 million annually in consumer savings on National Grid's UK network

LONDON / BOSTON — National Grid and LineVision today announced a significant expansion of Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) technology across National Grid's electricity transmission network in England and Wales. Under a new five-year framework, LineVision's Dynamic Line Ratings will be deployed across an additional 585km of key north-to-south transmission routes, bringing the total network coverage to more than 900km. The program is expected to reduce constraint costs by up to £50 million over its life.

The announcement builds on a partnership that began in 2022. LineVision's DLR systems are already operating across 262 kilometres of National Grid's most critical transmission corridors, delivering optimised transmission capacity and approximately £34 million per year in consumer savings by reducing congestion costs.

Why Transmission Capacity Matters Now

The UK's electricity network is under pressure from multiple directions at once. Offshore wind capacity is growing rapidly, but the ability to move that power from generation sites to population centres depends on transmission corridors that are already operating near their limits. The UK has attracted $59 billion of committed AI infrastructure, with 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of demand coming online by 2030, but those investments depend on grid connections that take years to deliver through traditional build programmes.

Constraint costs, payments made to generators to curtail output when the network cannot absorb it, are a direct consequence of this gap between capacity and demand. They totalled approximately £1.5 billion in 2024 and are projected to grow significantly without intervention. Every pound spent on constraints is a pound passed through to consumer bills.

DLR addresses this gap immediately at a fraction of the cost and timeline of new construction.

Getting More From the Existing Network

Meeting the UK's growing demand for electricity requires both new infrastructure and smarter use of what already exists. DLR continuously monitors overhead line conditions to calculate a real-time capacity rating based on actual conductor behaviour and local weather, rather than the fixed conservative assumptions that have historically governed line ratings. The result is a safe, reliable optimisation of available capacity on existing infrastructure, without new towers or new routes.

Scaling a Successful Partnership

National Grid's relationship with LineVision spans both sides of the Atlantic. Following successful deployments on National Grid's networks in New York and Massachusetts, the partnership brought DLR to the UK with a trial on a 275kV circuit in Cumbria in 2022. That work expanded to cover more than 262km of overhead line across circuits in the North West and North East of England. Across National Grid's RIIO-T2 regulatory period, DLR installations have already saved £21 million in constraint costs.

Initial installations under the new framework will cover the North East (345km), the Humber area, and East Anglia (240km), with the majority of work expected to be complete by 2028.

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