Joint venture picked for £230m electricity project

A joint venture (JV) involving the UK construction arm of Ferrovial is to deliver a £230m electricity upgrade project in South East England.

Ferrovial and Bemo’s UK division will build a 2.2km-long tunnel for National Grid under the River Thames.

They will also lay high-voltage cable within the tunnel to link Grain in Kent with Tilbury in Essex, as part of the Great Grid Upgrade.

Ferrovial announced today (3 February) that the work will last “from early 2025 until Q1 [the first quarter of] 2029”.

The project forms part of National Grid’s plans to build a green energy network in line with UK decarbonisation goals.

Two 35 metre-deep shafts of 15 metres and 12 metres diameter respectively will be created as part of the Grain-to-Tilbury scheme, which will include headhouses and cable sealing end compounds.

Ferrovial-Bemo will use advanced engineering technology, including a vertical shaft sinking machine.

The JV partners said this will “significantly” reduce construction time, minimise environmental impact and ensure “the highest level of safety”.

Bemo is a tunnelling specialist based in Germany. Its UK arm’s portfolio of projects includes the Elizabeth Line, the redevelopment of King’s Cross station and tunnels for Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5.

Ferrovial has worked on major subterranean schemes including the Thames Tideway Tunnel, the Silvertown Tunnel, the Northern Line Extension and the Elizabeth Line – but this is its first project for National Grid.

The Amsterdam-headquartered firm’s UK contracting business posted a record turnover and return to profitability in its most recent accounts, despite winning no new work in the 2023 calendar year.

And last month, it was revealed to be among a host of big names vying to work on a prototype nuclear fusion power plant in Nottinghamshire.

Ministers in October announced billions of pounds of new funding for green energy projects.

Balfour Beatty was last year picked by National Grid to undertake the £363m Bramford to Twinstead reinforcement project in East Anglia.