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NETWORK / 20 / OCTOBER 2018 PROJECT UPDATE A team from UK Power Networks, along with their alliance partner, Kier Utilities are installing new cabling along a 4.1km route between the company's electricity substations in Maidstone and Shepway. A trenchless technique will be used to install the cables underneath the River Len and part of Mote Park. Towards the end of the year, improve - ments will be carried out at the electricity substation in Shepway, which will eventu- ally be connected to the new cabling. Crittenden said: "This is one of sev- eral projects we are carrying out across the South East this year to maintain and upgrade the safety and reliability of the electricity network for local homes and businesses. "We are constantly investing in new equipment to minimise power cuts and provide the best possible service to our local communities. Power cuts are less common these days and that is partly due to invest - ments like this to ensure we deliver power safely and securely." O'Sullivan added: "There are a number of reasons why we do an upgrade or build new infrastructure. Here, it's obviously to maintain resilience and ensure that we meet the demands of future build growth. The customers of today versus 1950 have got other electrical devices. Kids want to have three or four devices and we've all got our smart TVs. Primarily it is to manage resilience and also the load growth that we see as a network operator. We need to make sure that we meet the demands of customers without causing any disruption or outages. "Typically, our network is very secure so it's important to maintain that security. We're very proud of the fact that we've got a highly resilient network. It doesn't suffer many unplanned outages, albeit there are a few. We want to maintain that quality of supply and service to customers." Meeting demand in Maidstone UK Power Networks has started a £5.1 million power upgrade in Maidstone, Kent. Network editor Alec Peachey visited the site and spoke to project manager Matthew Crittenden along with head of capital programme alliance delivery, Liam O'Sullivan. Working in conjunction with alliance partner Kier, the work should not have any impact on electricity supplies. Short trenches will be excavated to lay pipework, then the ground will be returned to normal. Engineers pull new cables into position by using open excavations at intervals along the route. UK Power Networks will use a directional drill to go under the River Len and working in consultation with the local council, the team is proposing to use a similar technique to install the ducts and cables in Mote Park, out of sight, underground. "This helps us to be sympathetic to the local environment," explains O'Sullivan. "If we're going through a park, we try to use HDD (hydraulic directional drills). The benefit is that it tends to be a bit quicker. Setup can take a little longer but once you get going and you don't have any obstructions you can get on with things quite quickly. People can still walk across the park and do what they want as we're obviously underground. It helps to minimise disruption. "If you see an open cut route, typically we're going down and there's loads of ser - vices. If you do a directional drill, you can go deeper and miss all the services. You can imagine weaving your way through services doing an open trench cut can be quite complex at times, typically if you're going through these types of rich conurbations you can come across a lot of services. Some - times we use HDD to try and manage and minimise the potential of hitting services." Having worked in the UK power sector since 1997, O'Sullivan has seen advance - ments in technology and techniques used across the industry. "The general principle is the same, but the equipment is more reliable," he remarks. "Typically, as technology grows it gets a bit smaller. Before you'd be using large equip- ment to do the HDD stuff, but now that equip- ment tends to be smaller and more compact. "Principally if you think about Brunel and tunnelling it has come from that. The principles that Mr Brunel had back in the day are the same ones, but we just apply them using new technologies and meth- ods." Two new, 42-tonne transformers, serving approximately 15,000 homes, are due to be installed at the electricity substation in Shepway, replacing the two existing trans - formers. This equipment plays an important role in stepping down the electricity voltage from 33,000 to 11,000-volts, so the electric - ity can be delivered to other local electricity substations, then on to local homes and businesses. According to O'Sullivan, there can be chal - lenges around transporting transformers on local roads, but he adds: "Every time you do this it has to be planned like it's the first. Each circumstance is different – you're weaving in through residential homes and local roads – so you've got to test all the bridges and make sure you fundamentally check that the route of delivery can take the load." O'Sullivan manages the delivery of UK Power Networks' capital delivery pro - gramme, working with a team of about 400 people and delivering an annual investment programme of about £200 million. He knows from experience that you need to take a balanced approach to delivering additional network capacity versus doing more with what you've already got. "It's a balance of using new techniques, typically demand side response (DSR) or other similar ones like demand management – and balancing that against the need to actually invest in 'real' copper transformers and capac - ity. Our goal is to spend customers' money as effectively and efficiently as we can." The Maidstone project is expected to be completed in April 2019. If you're involved with a scheme that you think should be featured in the pro- ject update section get in touch with the editor at alecpeachey@fav-house.com