It's not just the cost of building. There's huge NIMBY opposition to the construction of transmission lines: https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-government-elec

It's not just the cost of building. There's huge NIMBY opposition to the construction of transmission lines: https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-government-electricity-pylons-country-energy-system-2030-annual-bill-climate-net-zero/ https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-government-electricity-py... Of course, the same arguments killed the construction of onshore wind in England, which would have prevented needing the new powerlines (or at least not so much).