UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast the UK’s power infrastructure had undergone decades of “woeful underinvestment”.
He said he understood the objections of those living nearby, but added the pylons were “crucial” to ensure the National Grid maintained future resilience.
“I totally accept that people might not like that, but it is critical national infrastructure and it has to be built somewhere,” he said.
“Building any kind of infrastructure in these communities does cause disruption. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t build any kind of infrastructure and I’m afraid in this country, for too long, we have taken that view, and the result is that we have been held back by not having the infrastructure the country needs.”
Shanks added: “Either we go through decades of not upgrading the grid and take the risk that the grid will actually fail, but we also lose the opportunity of cheaper bills, homegrown power connecting.
“We’re not prepared to take that risk.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says Britain’s electricity grid was largely designed for an era when power came from coal and gas-fired power stations, and now needs major upgrades to cope with growing amounts of renewable energy.
Ministers say the lack of capacity means some wind farms are sometimes paid to switch off because there is not enough network infrastructure available to carry the electricity to homes and businesses that need it.
Greg Jackson, chief executive of the UK’s biggest domestic energy supplier, Octopus Energy, said the electricity system is inefficient, brittle and expensive.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the discount scheme was a “positive first step”, adding that last year the UK spent more than £1bn paying wind farms to turn off on windy days.
“We should just be giving that electricity more cheaply to the people and businesses who live in the areas where we’re generating it,” he said.
“By doing that, you’d be able to stop wasting that money and instead put the electricity to use cutting bills for those people. But crucially cutting bills for everybody else as well because it’s less wasteful.”
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