Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/796215
NETWORK / 23 / MARCH 2017 trip north that the local Sainsbury's was back up and running within a day. They also questioned why the substation wasn't relocated when the power station was closed. Herein lies ENW's problem. It has inherited a substation in an inherently vulnerable location, and it's not alone. Major substations were traditionally located next to the power stations where their power was originally generated, and those stations were always close to water sources. Deehan immediately rules out the local resident's idea of moving the substation. "I don't know what the figure would be for this site, but it would have been in excess of 100 million." ENW would have to purchase new land and move all its assets. But there would be unacceptable knock-on effects. All the transmission infrastructure feeding the site would also have to be moved, as would the distribution network. "The cost would be astronomical," Deehan concludes, and have a serious effect on the affordability of energy for its customers. "Unfortunately when we have these legacy assets we have got to leave them in situ and make them as resilient as we can." But a‹er Storm Desmond proved the inadequacy of the substation's defences, the site could not just be le‹ as it was. ENW immediately started a two-pronged attack: short-term measures to protect the infrastructure during this current winter, and long-term measures that should render the substation flood resilient. The existing flood defences are built to withstand a one-in-100-year flood and are built to a clearly now insufficient 1.1 metres. This was hastily added to in order to flood-proof the site against any weather this current winter may have brought Lancaster's way. An extra 0.7 metres of wall has been erected and flood-proof doors now seal every building. Inside, critical equipment has been li‹ed up the walls to above the water line as an extra precaution, leaving visible marks of their previous positions. It may seem like ENW is doing the job twice but Deehan says this work has bought invaluable time to allow it enact its far more ambitious long-term plan. "The main thing is we got the 1.8-metre protection in on a temporary basis, so that's bought us the time to do the one-in-1,000- year protection. We can actually stop and breathe now." But ENW cannot be accused of sitting on its laurels. A long-term plan was formulated within 48 hours of Storm Desmond. The key investment is difficult to miss. The site is dominated by a single metal container, around which numerous people are busy working. The container stands on legs that support it three metres above the ground. All the electrical switchgear and control equipment currently housed in various buildings around the site will soon be relocated out of harm's way in this lo‹y box. It should, Deehan assures Network, be safe here. A happy consequence, he adds, is that the site will be easier to manage with all the equipment in a single central location. Although such a solution is not unique, its sheer size and the aggressive timescale ENW is working to is. In normal circumstances ENW would look to undertake the work during the summer when equipment can be taken out of service with minimal disruption to power supplies. But these aren't normal circumstances, so ENW is attempting instead to complete four outage season's worth of work in just 12 months. "There are a lot of things here that we haven't done in ENW before in terms of framework, but it's the timeline we are up against," says Deehan. "We have got 33kV switchgear, 110V battery systems and telecontrol for our control systems. All of that has to be li‹ed upstairs into the new container. You o‹en go to a job and you are doing a switchgear change or a transformer change, but here we are doing everything." Despite this, "we are on track". The work won't stop there. Although fairly resilient, ENW is taking no chances and will li‹ two of the three transformers by crane to sit on three metre-high steel foundations. The tank alone weighs 114 tonnes. But ENW cannot li‹ the transformer alone. All the connecting structures in the compound will also be li‹ed. None of this will come cheap and networks' investment plans are tightly monitored, so where will the unexpected investment be found? "We have plans for RIIO ED1, but as things change we realign our investment programme. We then divert money to make sure that we can make investment in sites like this, and Carlisle. Rochdale is also a key investment site for us. "It's not ideal, but we have got to make sure that we protect the assets so we can give a reliable supply to our customers," Deehan says. Over the eight-year period, ENW has been afforded £1.9 billion of investment. This, Deehan says, allows for a certain amount of "shuffle" room. While it could be expected that, if £130 million is to be diverted, another investment project will have to be sacrificed, Deehan insists this isn't the case. "It is a huge amount of money, but when you have a programme that is eight years long and you have £1.9 billion you can make those adjustments. Eight years gives you that, it's a blessing and a curse really. "It's good because you have a long-term plan, but a lot changes from year one to year eight in terms of the economic climate, Brexit, and so on. Also things can happen to prices and the affordability of things. And innovation… things change." A lot of the justification around innovation work being undertaken by network operators at customer's expense is that it's good value for money. Many have argued that projects have not translated into business-as-usual activities, not helped by a tendency for projects to focus on issues that have yet to achieve significant market penetration, such as electric vehicles. That being the case, is flood prevention and storm resilience in general receiving the attention it deserves? Deehan says that it is – in ENW at least. "We have been hit the hardest so we are probably doing more about it than everybody else. What we can't do is sit and wait for other people to come up with solutions. "I can't think of anything where we could say 'if only somebody could come up to a solution to that', because where we have had a problem we have come up with a solution. We are developing technology all the time." It's a bold statement, but ENW's swi‹ and comprehensive response to Storm Desmond demonstrates that the company puts its money where its mouth is. "You can't guarantee anything," Deehan says, "but we have gone as far as we can." N How ENW is keeping the lights on