7:30am Thursday 18th March 2010
By Andrew Napier
A £35,000 project to upgrade five electricity substations near Winchester, and help protect energy supplies to thousands of homes has been completed.
Southern Electric Power Distribution has installed new ‘switching’ equipment at high-voltage substations.
It means they can be controlled remotely when there is a power cut. Alternative supplies can now be routed from another source at the touch of a button, ensuring local homes keep their lights on. In the past, engineers would have had to manually switch supplies.
Over 7,600 homes and businesses are powered by the revamped substations which are located near Shawford Park in Shawford, Upper Moors Road in Brambridge, Smithe Close in Eastleigh and Priory Close and Brook Street in Bishop’s Waltham.
This is part of a major programme being undertaken by Southern Electric to upgrade all of its high voltage substations, helping to slash the number of power cuts.
The company invested £185.7m last year on improving and renewing its power network.
Sally Maynard, operations manager at Southern Electric’s New Forest depot, said: “If there’s a power cut on the high voltage network in these parts of Hampshire, our central control room can now get on the case immediately. They can re-route electricity from another part of the network and most residents will just see a ‘blip’ in the power whilst the new supply kicks in.”
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