Balfour Beatty to Build Britain's Biggest Substation at Teesworks

Balfour Beatty has landed the contract to build what is expected to be Britain's largest electricity substation, a project worth more than £200m at Teesworks on Teesside. National Grid Electricity Transmission confirmed the contractor as it announced it had bought the 73-acre Dorman Point site for the new power facility.

The Teesside Node A substation will initially provide 1.44GW of additional electricity capacity. That power will support major data centre, AI, advanced manufacturing and other energy-intensive developments across the former steelworks site.

The project forms part of National Grid's Great Grid Upgrade programme. The first 1,440 MVA of capacity is scheduled to come online by the end of 2029.

What happens next on the ground?

Teesworks will carry out six months of land remediation and preparation works before handing the site over to National Grid. The new substation will sit directly beneath existing 275kV and 400kV overhead transmission lines, providing a connection point for a major expansion of the area's electricity network.

The additional capacity has been contracted to Steel River Power, which owns and operates the private electricity distribution network serving Teesworks. Steel River Power is a joint venture between Steel River Energy and North West Electricity Networks, part of the ScottishPower/Iberdrola group.

Chris Musgrave, chairman of Teesworks, said: "Agreeing this deal with National Grid is a significant milestone for Teesworks and reflects the scale of the opportunity here at the Teesworks site. Making this land available for what is expected to be the UK's largest substation is an important step in putting the infrastructure in place to support the next phase of industrial development across the site."

"Our focus now is on delivering the remediation works and preparing the land for handover, helping to ensure Teesworks is ready to support the energy needs of major businesses and industries for years to come."

What does this change for Teesside?

In practical terms, it unlocks the power supply that energy-hungry tenants — data centres and AI operators chief among them — need before they can commit to building on the former steelworks land. Without a substation of this scale, the site's next phase of industrial growth would stall on paper.

The half-year remediation programme now sets the clock. Once the land is handed over, National Grid and Balfour Beatty face a tight runway to deliver the first 1,440 MVA before the end of 2029, anchoring Teesside's pitch as a destination for power-intensive industry.