Utility operator National Grid is entering into its next phase of grid modernization, awarding contracts as part of a $1.5 billion overhead power line upgrade project across England and Wales. The project, under National Grid’s Electricity Transmission Partnership, is collaborating alongside five delivery partners in the U.K. to improve grid capacity and energy reliability.

Those five partners: Balfour Beatty, M Group, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, Murphy and the Omexom Taylor Woodrow joint venture, will modernize more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) of overhead utility routes, known as reconductoring, according to a release.

“Upgrading our existing network is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase capacity and strengthen resilience, alongside the vital role of building new infrastructure to meet growing demand,” said Alice Delahunty, president of electricity transmission at National Grid.

Older wires will be replaced with advanced materials to transmit more electricity without building new corridors, part of this $1.5 billion investment. The initiative builds on the long-term framework that National Grid states has helped them secure more than $36 billion in total scale of overarching investment plans across its British network through 2031.

This includes the National Grid’s RIIO-T3 investment proposal, which outlines $40 billion in transmission network spending to upgrade 2,175 miles of lines, its previous RIIO-T2 phase, which added more than 16 GW of transfer capacity and 3.5 GW from reconductoring during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

“Bringing together substations and overhead lines under the Electricity Transmission Partnership is a natural step as we upgrade critical transmission infrastructure,” said Peter Kirk, managing director of energy at Morgan Sindall Infrastructure. “This will help ensure our national grid can meet growing demand and remain secure when it matters most.”

To meet this demand, project partners are expanding training infrastructure to prepare for roughly 6,000 full-time National Grid employees in the U.K. by 2031, including 2,000 projected apprentices.

In addition to its U.K. operations, National Grid has its U.S. operations based in Massachusetts, delivering electricity and natural gas to more than 20 million consumers across the state and Upstate New York.