17 Feb Power boost for South Chingford homes and businesses
Work has been completed on a major project to bolster the reliability of power supplies for homes and businesses in South Chingford.
A £1.4 million investment by UK Power Networks, which distributes electricity across the East of England, has seen the installation of a new 11,000-volt switchboard. The new electrical equipment in a refurbished substation will help to reduce the length of any power cuts and help reduce their number.
The technology used will mean electricity supplies can be restored remotely in the event of a power cut, often without needing engineers to attend, assess and repair any fault.
The South Chingford site is part of a group of substations that provide mutual support to each other, minimising power cuts in the area. North and South Chingford, Ponders End and Tottenham Grid substations supply over 43,000 homes and businesses between them.
South Chingford supplies around a quarter of these customers and is the first stage of a planned replacement scheme to modernise this part of the network supplying the Chingford area that will next focus on its northern counterpart.
Brian Morris, project manager for UK Power Networks, said: “We closely monitor our equipment and run maintenance and replacement programmes to safeguard power supplies.
“The introduction of a remote control service for more than 11,000 homes and businesses will reduce future power cuts and help the continued growth of this part of East London by making a positive difference to people in the community.
“The existing electrical equipment has served us well for decades, but there are clear advantages to the new technology and it is the first step towards a wider fresh investment in the network serving the Chingford area.”
He added: “This project is one of many multi-million pound schemes we are carrying out this year with support from our Capital Programme Delivery alliance partners to make sure we continue to provide resilient power supplies for the local communities we serve.”
The company delivers electricity to 18 million people through cables, substations and power lines and invests around £600 million each year in the network.
