A fresh substation has been switched on and is now feeding electricity into the grid.

National Grid’s Little Horsted facility, situated along the overhead line route linking Bolney and Ninfield, required two years to construct and contributes approximately half a gigawatt of power to Britain’s national transmission infrastructure.

This output could supply electricity to 480,000 households.

Paul Alchin, who oversaw the scheme for National Grid, expressed satisfaction that the Little Horsted substation is now live and integrated into their network. He explained that the project guarantees a safe and reliable energy supply for years ahead. Over the coming months, the building team will vacate the location. Subject to favourable conditions, they will plant fresh trees and hedgerows and restore zones following discussions with property owners.

The installation forms part of National Grid’s wider £2.7 billion development programme for the South East covering 2026 to 2031.

It will assist regional network operator UK Power Networks in handling growing electricity consumption.

During 2025, National Grid linked 2.4GW of fresh generation capacity to the transmission network, along with about half a gigawatt of additional demand, which included connections such as Little Horsted.

Creating the Little Horsted site involved shifting roughly 65,000 cubic metres of soil to flatten the ground.

This material was repurposed to relay polo pitches in Polegate and to cover and landscape a former landfill site near Horsham.

In October 2024, two transformers weighing 178 tonnes each were conveyed from Shoreham Port to the substation location.

UK Power Networks is constructing its own substation directly alongside the National Grid installation.

Paul Maslen, who managed the project for UK Power Networks, stated that finishing this substantial substation would allow them to complete their adjacent facility, which will provide enhanced power capacity for local customers anticipated to consume more electricity, including new connections. The majority of this separate scheme should be finished by spring 2027.

As part of the initiative, National Grid also converted 24 acres near Framfield into a nature reserve for protected wildlife species such as great crested newts, dormice and several bat varieties.