Rishi Sunak talks energy during Sizewell trip in Suffolk

Campaign groups, including Suffolk Energy Action Solutions (SEAS) and Essex Suffolk Norfolk pylons, have been fighting proposals for 50-metre high pylons and cables bringing power ashore from offshore wind farms via a new substation at Friston and converter station at Saxmundham.

The new infrastructure is all part of energy firm National Grid's so-called Great Grid Upgrade to transmit cheaper, greener electricity along a 184km corridor between Norwich and Tilbury.

READ MORE: Suffolk campaigners had called for grid for wind farm power

Therese Coffey, prospective Suffolk Coastal candidate, joined Mr Sunak at Sizewell (Image: Archant) But the campaigners fear the impact of these new developments on the countryside and are championing the creation of an offshore grid to avoid the need for onshore cabling, which would take electricity instead to brownfield sites at Bradwell in Essex and Kent.

During his visit, Mr Sunak was joined by Therese Coffey, his fellow Tory and electoral candidate for the Suffolk Coastal constituency, and took a tour of the facility, where he met apprentices, saying that he was "seeing the benefits of nuclear".

READ MORE: Suffolk Coastal hustings to take place on Sunday, June 9

Mr Sunak gives Dr Coffey a hug (Image: PA)

He pledged to review the situation with the infrastructure if the Tories win the election on Thursday, July 4.

He said: "We know of the concerns, the very understandable concerns, about the visual impact of this infrastructure.

Rishi Sunak visited Sizewell B on Wednesday (Image: Charlotte Bond) "We are going to review this situation because some of the needs we are using to make these decisions are a decade old now.

"We will be looking at the alternative technologies available, including with moving to offshore or underground."

Responding to Mr Sunak's comments, Fiona Gilmore, from SEAS, said: "Sunak is right to say that the current National Grid plans are 10 years old and that the world has changed dramatically since then.

READ MORE: Suffolk pylon campaigners accuse Government of 'bribes'

"Our goals for offshore wind have multiplied. The technology for offshore has advanced rapidly. There are no longer the barriers. Procurement issues are melting away. 

Mr Sunak on the tour at Sizewell (Image: PA)

"Britain has dithered and been last in the queue behind Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark, but the good news is that Britain can and should manufacture the cables here.

"New enterprises are springing up spurred on by the example of SuperNode, an Irish innovator developing 10 gigawatt (GW) superconducting cables ready for market by 2032."

She called for a pilot test as the first step towards a "flexible offshore grid", adding that by National Grid's own estimates, this alternative would be £2billion cheaper and would be faster in the mid-term due to using only half the required onshore infrastructure.

READ MORE: Suffolk and Essex pylon plans 'legally flawed,' lawyer says

She added: "Sunak could have done a U-turn as he did on HS2.

"But this one would have been a turn towards the future, not past technology, a turn towards a smarter solution, a win-win for everyone. 

"A new government will need to halt the current plans and call a moratorium in order to assess these magnificent opportunities for UK plc.

"We could be world class in this sector if we grasp the opportunity and then make up for lost time."

The PM has pledged a review on energy if the Tories win the election (Image: PA)

Mr Sunak also praised prospective Suffolk Coastal candidate Dr Coffey, who had served as the constituency's MP since 2010.

"Therese Coffey is a dear friend of mine and has been a fantastic MP for her community," he said.

For her part, Dr Coffey said she was campaigning for a skills centre in nearby Leiston to enable local people to make the best of the opportunities presented by the new Sizewell C nuclear power station, which is being built near to Sizewell B at a cost of more than £20 billion.

She said: "We have an older demographic and that is why people are assuming that Reform will do well, but on the doorstep there is no love for Keir Starmer (Labour Party leader)."

Mr Sunak's visit to Sizewell came a day after shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband visited Gorleston in Norfolk to outline his party's plans for energy.

He said Labour would introduce a windfall tax on the "very, very large profits" of oil and gas firms to pay for a clean energy revolution.

Mr Miliband also said Labour "will get going from day one on projects like Great British Energy" if it forms a government after next month's poll.