UK ‘needs to play catch-up’ in global race to rewire electricity grids

SSE’s 103-turbine Viking windfarm on Shetland. The UK has spent four times more on renewable energy projects than on cables to connect them to the grid, the report by Bloomberg NEF claims. Photograph: Dave Donaldson/Alamy

The UK is lagging behind in the race to rewire the world’s power grids by investing four times more on renewable energy projects than on the electricity cables needed to connect them to the grid and consumers, according to a new report.

For every pound the UK has spent on renewables it has spent only 25p on the cables and power lines, claims the report by Bloomberg NEF, which placed the UK eighth in an index of the world’s 10 biggest energy markets.