The Residents of East London are now benefitting from a new £4 million investment to upgrade the areas electricity network. Work has recently been completed to install two new 132kV cable circuits between Barking and Brunswick Wharf. The new routes replace existing ones which have been working for decades and will now be decommissioned. This will help to ensure the reliability of local power supplies in the future.
The project, by the electricity distribution firm UK Power Networks, started in mid 2018 and was energised this summer, providing enough power for an equivalent of 18,000 homes. As part of the scheme, the firm consulted with local councils and other interested parties in order to ensure that people living in the area experienced as little disruption as possible whilst installation work took place.
Joshua Alderdice, project manager at UK Power Networks, says: “East London is home to both regeneration and new investment, so therefore ensuring the lights are kept on for all, is vital. That’s why we are making a significant investment into this project.
“UK Power Networks is working in partnership with our alliance of contractors to support the substantial increase that will be required in capacity for this busy area.”
UK Power Networks is constantly working to improve the performance of its network and to meet future needs for power. This network improvement project is part of the company’s £600 million investment in its electricity networks this year, to help local communities achieve their decarbonisation ambitions in the drive to Net Zero.
One of the UK’s largest electricity distributors delivers electricity to around 8.3 million homes and businesses and currently employs over 6,000 staff and contractors in order to maintain the London electricity network for 2.4 million customers. In London alone, UK Power Networks’ cables stretch across more than 37,000 kilometres.