SSEN invests £150m to prepare networks for winter

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has so far invested £150 million to strengthen its network in the north of Scotland and central southern England ahead of winter.

The ongoing investment programme includes flood prevention measures, refurbishment and replacement of poles and extensive tree-cutting to prevent falling branches.

The investment was split across the network operator’s two distribution network areas with a £44 million spend in the north of Scotland and a further £107 million in the central southern England.

Works include:

• £75,000 to improve flood prevention in the Aberdeenshire communities of Ballater and Aboyne, which were badly impacted by floods in January 2015.
• £130,000 on an extensive tree-cutting programme and the installation of new equipment in and around Chiddingfold to improve resilience of the local network and minimise the risk of power cuts.
• The installation of a £1.5 million underground cable between substations in Godalming and Milford, to make supplies in the area more robust and less susceptible to power cuts.
• £500,000 to refurbish and replace the electricity network on Shetland.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has also launched a winter ready campaign to encourage its customers to start preparing for the winter and to get resilient plans in place ahead of any adverse weather.

The ‘We’re ready for winter. Are you?’ campaign runs until February 2017, providing customers with practical tips on how to prepare for a power cut or emergency weather situation and promoting the new three-digit emergency number for reporting power cuts –105.

SSEN managing director Colin Nicol said: “We want our customers to be safe in the knowledge that we are doing all we can to keep their power on this winter.

“We have made it a priority to arm them with the information and the services they need to see them through the worst that the British winter can throw at them.

“While the campaign runs through the winter months, our commitment to building the resilience of our networks – and the resilience of the communities who rely on those networks – runs throughout the year.”

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the new trading name of Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution and Southern Electric Power Distribution.

It operates and maintains the electricity network that serves 3.7 million homes and businesses across central southern England, northern Scotland, the Highlands and islands.