National Grid runs the high-voltage electricity transmission network for England and Wales currently comprising 4,400 miles of overhead cable suspended on 22,000 pylons.
Mr Pettigrew said the network was ageing fast and needed to be upgraded, first to cope with the expansion of renewable energy but also because of the predicted surge in demand fuelled by heat pumps, electric vehicles and gigafactories.
He added: “All of that is pushing load up, which is something we’ve not seen on the network for a long time.”
The planned upgrade will result in 2,400 miles of high voltage cables being laid offshore, carrying power along coastlines or from wind farms.
It is planning 1,000 miles of new cable onshore, with another 680 miles of existing overhead lines being “reinforced”, often meaning existing pylons being replaced with larger ones.
Mr Pettigrew said: “This is not just about the network being old and it’s creaking. It’s actually about the fundamentals of what the network’s being asked to do – it’s changing as part of the energy transition.”
The planned upgrade came as National Grid posted a 15pc fall in profits to just over £3bn for the year to March. It also plans to invest a further £29bn in the US, taking its total investment over five years to £60bn – almost double the level over the past five years.
It also plans to sell National Grid Renewables, its US onshore renewables business, to raise cash.
National Grid already has 17 major onshore and offshore transmission projects in the UK and is spending another $4bn (£3.2bn) on its ‘Upstate Upgrade’ in New York’s electricity transmission network.
Recent spending includes the 116 new pylons to connect the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station when it starts generating sometime after 2028.
Similar expansions are planned in Scotland where the transmission network is managed by different companies. SSE manages networks in northern Scotland, highlands and islands, while SP Energy Networks covers central and southern Scotland.
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