SSEN £8.7m distribution network upgrade improves service to 60,000 customers

• Newly-completed network upgrades will improve the service to 60 thousand customers in east Hampshire.
• Homes and businesses will benefit through more capacity and even greater reliability.
• The project has been completed weeks ahead of schedule, with some overnight working reducing disruption.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution has completed an £8.7m network upgrade which is now benefitting tens of thousands of customers who live and work in the Fleet and Aldershot areas of east Hampshire.

This project has involved work on multiple aspects of the network, with overhead lines upgraded and critical components replaced. The combined effect of this investment is a stronger, even more reliable network which will keep the power flowing to homes and businesses in an increasingly volatile climate. The upgrades also help unlock greater capacity for customers. This means that people and companies who want to generate their own solar energy or move over to an EV or a heat pump, will now find it easier to do so. 

The project in detail

SSEN Distribution’s in-house teams led the design, management and delivery of this project.

Each of the 37 overhead towers on this stretch has had its foundations upgraded. This makes the network even more secure and resilient in wetter, windier weather. Many critical fittings have also been replaced, including the previous twin conductors, which have been supplanted by larger single replacements. These changes further strengthen the network’s efficiency and reliability.

Two sections of the existing lower voltage network have also been put underground where they passed beneath the newly-upgraded higher voltage line. This was done to eliminate the risk of lines coming into contact with each other during the improvement works on the larger network above.

Callum Benton, SSEN Distribution’s Fleet-Aldershot project manager, says:

“This project has delivered a wholesale revamp of the network that tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the Fleet and Aldershot areas depend on. By improving our infrastructure here, we’ve provided customers with even more reliability. And through this investment, we’ve also future-proofed the network at a time when electricity demand is only going to increase, as more people turn to clean power for their heating and transport needs.

“The scale of this project, combined with our absolute commitment to safety, meant this was a logistically-challenging scheme. We carried out some of the most complex work overnight to minimise the possibility of disruption to customers.”

Jo Niven, SSEN Distribution’s Head of Capital, Maintenance and Inspection Investment, says:

“The successful, early completion of the Fleet-Aldershot project is a huge achievement for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, and our Capital, Maintenance and Inspection Investment team. From project design getting underway in 2023, through the start of foundation works this time last year, to works ending in November, they have worked to ensure this project has run smoothly and to schedule.

“Now this work is done, and that our customers are benefitting from this £8.7m investment, I’d like to thank the design and delivery teams for their hard work and commitment. I’m also grateful to the communities along the route of this project for their understanding and patience while these network improvements were carried out.”