A CAMPAIGN group fighting to stop the Duddon Valley and Furness being blighted by giant pylons has told a government regulator that its own alternative proposals could make massive savings on options so far rejected by National Grid.

National Grid's £2.8bn North West Coast Connections project plans will connect the new Moorside nuclear power station, near Sellafield to the grid at Heysham.

The proposed 102-mile route will see controversial electricity pylons with 400kV overhead lines running around the coast of west Cumbria, between Carlisle and the Furness peninsula, before going through a tunnel under Morecambe Bay to Lancashire.

While the Lake District would be pylon-free through the use of underground cabling, 50-metre-plus pylons would be placed through rural south Copeland and into Furness, in communities such as Millom, Kirkby, Ireleth, Lindal, Dalton, Newton and Roosecote.

The Nopylons.co.uk group argues that Duddon and Furness communities don't need to be "fenced in by pylons" because there are offshore options from Bootle to Walney or by having a Duddon tunnel from Millom to the south-east of Askam.

Some 8,000 responses were submitted to National Grid's consultation which ended last month. National Grid has said it is reviewing its proposals in light of the feedback received and is preparing an application to submit to the Planning Inspectorate.

National Grid has so far rejected extending the offshore routes due to cost.

A consultation by OFGEM, the gas and electricity markets regulator, closes on Friday. It is seeking responses as to whether sections of the National Grid’s proposals should be put out for competition. OFGEM states that any offshore connections are put out to competition.

In OFGEM's public consultation document, published in December, it flagged up “concerns that National Grid’s subsea cost estimate is too high.” It also says: “The project’s impact on the Lake District National Park and its setting will be a key consideration within any final planning consent for the project."

Nopylons.co.uk has submitted its alternative proposals to the OFGEM consultation.

Peter Gillett, of Nopylons.co.uk, said: "Pylons would ruin the stunning Duddon panorama. They don't need to be built; they can be avoided.

"Our website shows that a Bootle to Walney subsea route means that reduced work onshore results in savings of £395m. Using metrics published by the Institute of Engineering and Technology in their Electricity Transmission Costing Study we believe that offshore can be implemented within National Grid’s £2.8bn budget.

"Our alternative Duddon tunnel is also affordable. National Grid have priced a Duddon tunnel of 5.5-metre diameter. The required 12 cables can be installed in a four-metre diameter tunnel, which results in a massive saving on National Grid’s estimate."

The connection from Moorside to Carlisle is to be built first and detailed work must start this year. But Nopylons.co.uk argues that "there is plenty of time to reconsider the southern route and put the nopylons.co.uk proposed offshore connection Bootle to Walney and the Duddon tunnel out for competition", as the south section, Moorside to Heysham, does not need to go out for competition until late 2018 with completion in 2025.