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£4.7 million electricity infrastructure project in Croydon is energised

Power engineers have completed a £4.7 million upgrade to electricity infrastructure in Croydon, to maintain reliable supplies for local homes and businesses.

From Press releases - 19 November 2020 12:00 AM

UK Power Networks, which keeps power flowing across London, the South East and East of England, has switched on new power cabling along a 1.2km route in west Croydon. 

With the support of TfL, a tunnel-boring machine was used to construct a narrow tunnel carrying new high voltage cables underneath the A23 Purley Way and tramline. Along the rest of the route, short trenches were dug to lay ducts, before cables were pulled through and connected to existing networks.

The new underground link enables power demand to be shared between two existing electricity substations at Croydon. This will maintain reliable supplies for homes and businesses and increase capacity, meeting growth in demand for electricity.

Shaji Sebastian, programme manager at UK Power Networks, said: “This new interconnection allows us to evenly distribute electricity demand between our two existing electricity substations, increasing reliability and capacity for present and future needs in Croydon.

“This essential project will strengthen our electricity network for the benefit of customers in Croydon and meet growing demand for electricity in the 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.

The UK’s largest electricity distributor delivers electricity to 8.3 million homes and businesses and employs 6,200 staff and contractors 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.