Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/672433
NETWORK / 29 / MAY 2016 T he past year has seen an intense increase in political focus on improving UK infrastructure, from major roads and railways to intercity connection and hubs for the import and export of goods. Of course, such infrastructure upgrade ambitions come with inherent concerns for energy networks – adding to the already significant challenges posed by decarbonisation, decentralisation and the existing need to renew gas and power infrastructure. Generally speaking, the larger the economic benefit promised by an infrastructure project, the larger its requirements will be for energy. This may in turn require expertise in establishing private networks, as well as connections to a constrained electricity grid. Take London Gateway as an example. The opening of the London dock in 2013 was the culmination of an infrastructure megaproject costing £1.5 billion. Government, and the port's owners, hope that in return the investment will give back more than £3 billion to the UK economy through increased national capacity and accessibility to, and from, key global trade locations. The 607-hectare port plays host to a mass of highly automated industrial equipment and is integrated with Europe's largest logistics park. As such, its power requirements are immense. Access to reliable power generation was a key consideration in planning the port and logistics park, which are conveniently located within 1km of the 800MW Coryton gas-fired power station. Development of a flexible 900MW gas-fired power station within the logistics plant is also underway. Handling the power demands of London Gateway also required the design and build of a highly resilient private network, a task taken on by Morison Utility Connections (MUC). MUC designed, procured, installed and commissioned the London Gateway network and managed its connection to the grid. The project was carried out in a demanding 46-week timeframe and included the construction of two new 33/11Kv primary substations, the installation of more than 35km of site-wide 11kV cabling, 8km of 33kV cabling and numerous secondary substations to provide power and lighting to the logistics park. The protection and control system design included interfaces with both existing private (port- owned) 33Kv networks and DNO networks. Reinforcing investment decisions Western Power Distribution (WPD) is one of the most chal- lenged UK DNOs when it comes to meeting demand for connect- ing increasing levels of renewables in its licence areas. Responding to this challenge, the DNO has commissioned Regen South West (RegenSW) to help it understand invest- ment choices for rein- forcing the network. As a first step, RegenSW compiled a report assessing future distributed generation and de- mand growth sce- narios in WPD's South West licence area in 2015-30. Results of this assessment have provided WPD with a projection of annual capacity deployment by technology – and also by future energy scenario. (RegenSW referred to four sce- narios mapped out by National Grid.) Under the most ambitious scenario, RegenSW identified a growth trajectory from a 2015 baseline of circa 1.5- 5GW by 2030. These insights will now be taken forward as part of WPD's Stra- tegic Grid Investment Options Study. USE CASE LONDON GATEWAY AND MORRISON UTILITY CONNECTIONS "One very challenging aspect of the London Gateway Project was the construction of two 33-11kV primary substations at either end of the site, in very difficult ground conditions on the banks of the River Thames. "This called for extensive ground stabilisation and for both sub stations to be built on 30 metre-long concrete piles." THORsTEN WiLCOx, pROjECT MANAGER, MORRisON UTiLiTY CONNECTiONs