Britain needs £89bn grid upgrade, National Grid operator says

Britain's grid operator put a £89bn price tag on the transmission upgrades needed to support the country's energy transition, per Reuters. The figure covers network reinforcement across Great Britain and gives investment planners and asset managers a concrete anchor for long-term grid capex modelling. In a separate move on 1 July, National Grid announced a $1.75bn investment in Joulent, positioning the company to capture infrastructure spend tied to surging AI datacentre power demand.

On the continent, Red Eléctrica confirmed completion of the Tenerife–La Gomera underwater interconnection on 2 July. The 66 kV double-circuit line runs as a combined underground and submarine cable, supported by new substations at El Palmar (La Gomera) and Chío (Tenerife). The project sits within Spain's current Electricity Transmission Grid Plan and is designed to strengthen supply security and renewable integration across the Canary Islands system.

Also in the mix: Terna, Tunisia's STEG, and Hitachi Energy signed a €770m contract for the converter stations on the Elmed Italy–Tunisia HVDC link, a project that would add a new southern interconnection corridor to the European grid.