Newly emerged evidence has exposed a £2 billion ‘black hole’ in National Grid’s Sea Link project, which is a part of the Great Grid Upgrade.
During the planning phase for the proposed 138km electricity link between Kent and Suffolk, National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) claimed the project would cost £1.1 billion.
However, documents have revealed that at the same time, NGET were asking Ofgem for £3.197 billion for the same project.
The revelations were published in the book OVERCHARGED, which also quotes Ofgem Chair, Mark McAllister, stating that “National Grid is gaming the system. They think they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.”
The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the 11th September, highlighted the holes allowing NGET to get away with the dual-costing approach. The NAO also warned that consumers will be forced to pay £1.9 billion in constraint costs next year.
The book claims the staggering £3 billion NGET have requested for Sea Link is hugely unbalanced with the £45 million allocated to small scale community energy, with National Grid seemingly taking billions for itself.
Author of the book, Nick Rosen says that the government have got the balance wrong.
He said: “While the Government starves viable, small-scale community energy of funding—allocating it just £45 million—my new book shows National Grid bosses are actively ‘gaming the system’ to hoard billions for themselves.”
The so-called deception comes in the same week that energy bosses faced MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Despite committing £70 billion to build new pylons and cables by 2031, NESO forecasts that their maintenance costs will decrease. The MPs immediately demanded written answers from NESO and Ofgem, with explanations expected to be published in days.
The book says that with DESNZ dictating policy, Ofgem approving funding, NESO assessing the need and National Grid building it, when a project on this scale goes wrong, organisations appear to point the finger at the other.
Mr Rosen said: “To forecast falling maintenance costs while undertaking a £70bn infrastructure expansion defies basic logic. The system is structurally distorted, and DESNZ and Ofgem are failing to properly scrutinise it.”
The documents come as Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh will rule on the Sea Link project on the 30th October.
Energy Live News have approached National Grid, NESO and Ofgem for comment.
Copyright © 2026 Energy Live News LtdELN