power Archives - The Stray Ferret

Fire near Ripon after geese fly into power linesRoadworks due as Northern Powergrid begins £5.5m scheme in Harrogate

Northern Powergrid will begin a £5.5m scheme to make the electricity supply in the Harrogate area more reliable next week.

The company, which manages the electricity network for 3.9 million people, has said the upgrade will “improve the resilience and reliability of the vital local electricity network”.

But it will cause disruption to motorists on some of Harrogate’s busiest roads, including Ripon Road, Clarence Drive and Jenny Field Drive, where the work will start.

Upgraded cabling will be installed in 22 areas of Harrogate. Work will begin on Monday, March 18 and is due to end in September.

It will require having open excavated trenches in the roads. The trenches will be protected by barriers and some locations will have two-way traffic lights.

Northern Powergrid revealed the plans at a drop-in session on Tuesday night at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel, which businesses were invited to attend.

The Stray Ferret, which attended the meeting, was told Northern Powergrid and North Yorkshire Council have been in talks about the work for over a year in consultation with local councillors, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce.

Northern Powergrid operates to five-year plans and is currently working to its 2023-2028 plan, which includes upgrading its network. Once its plans are approved by a regulator, the company can receive funding from a fund, which is sourced from a percentage of bill payers’ money.

A similar scheme to upgrade York’s network, costing £1.5m, is currently underway.

Northern Powergrid five million pound investment route

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid told the Stray Ferret that the upgrades were essential. They said:

“These upgrades are what Harrogate needs to improve reliability, The works are being done to future proof the town. We Invest ahead of need, we don’t wait until there is no power we are doing it before it is needed.”

Northern Powergrid said the increasing number of electric vehicles, housing and hospitality venues made it essential to act now.

It added that businesses and houses now required a range of electric outlets and an increasing number of venues including hotels and pubs were changing from gas to electric to meet net zero goals, putting more demand on the power supply.

Steve Crawford, project manager said:

“With the decarbonisation agenda there is a real uptake in electric power. All of this technology requires electric power reinforcing to meet this increased need.

“This work will create capacity for new developments and low carbon technology connections to support the town’s economic growth. Now is the right time for Harrogate the upgrades are what the town needs right now.

“It allows future services to progress but we can’t tell how long these reinforcements will last. We wouldn’t spend more than the area needs but we can’t afford to wait until it is broken.”

When and Where

Residents will receive letters up to two weeks in advance of work beginning, the company said. The project will start next week on Jenny Field Drive and is due to end at Majestic Court in September.

Full list of Northern Powergrid times and dates for the investment works

The impact

Work is expected to take place from 8am-5pm but Northern Powergrid have purposely avoided the Crescent Road, Ripon Road and King’s Road junction to reduce disruption.

It said access for residents, businesses and emergency vehicles will be maintained disruption would be minimised by, for example, avoiding work near Harrogate Ladies’ College during term time. Public transport will continue.

The last major Northern Powergrid work in the area took place almost eight years ago near David Lloyd, where the company’s substation is located. It said the David Lloyd to Penny Pot Lane section will take the longest time to upgrade due to there being a single circuit along the route.

Mr Crawford said:

“People won’t notice a difference, we hope the upgrades will be seamless, which for us is a good thing if people cannot tell. People don’t notice power until it has gone so we are working behind the scenes and there should be no interruptions to power.”

Sharon Incerti, project manager said;

“No one is expected to be off supply and there are no planned outages for the work to go ahead. There can always be faults but they are not expected. This is a really positive scheme for Harrogate.

“It will be some short term disruption to meet Harrogate’s wider and ever-changing needs.”

To keep up to date check www.onenetwork.com and contact generalenquiries@northernpowergrid.com for any further information.

Northern Powergrid criticised over ‘unacceptable’ Storm Arwen failings

Energy regulator Ofgem has today published a damning report into how Northern Powergrid handled Storm Arwen.

The storm battered the Harrogate district and much of the UK in November and caused widespread disruption to homes and businesses. Over one million customers lost power as winds hit 98mph.

The storm struck during bitterly cold weather and left some rural homes in the district, including in Beckwithshaw and parts of Nidderdale, unable to cook or heat their homes.

Northern Powergrid is the company responsible for the electricity distribution network across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Six-month review

Ofgem published its findings after a six-month review into how Northern Powergrid, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Electricity North West responded to the storm.

The review focused on whether the power outages could have been prevented and whether correct and timely information was given to customers.

A fallen tree in Jennyfields during the storm.

It also looked at whether power was restored quickly enough and how customers were supported after the storm including the processing of compensation payments.

It found some households remained off power for an “unacceptable” amount of time, received poor communication from their network operator and compensation payments took too long.

It highlighted Northern Powergrid in particular for not contacting vulnerable customers prior to the storm.

Below standards

The report warned Northern Powergrid that the performance at its call centre fell below standards, which could be a breach of licence conditions.

It also suggested that some of the electricity poles that fell onto power lines were susceptible to damage because of their age, although it said this needs further investigation.

Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, said:

“The frequency of extreme weather events is only set to increase so it is really important that industry, and those involved more widely, learn from Storm Arwen to better respond in future.”

The three energy firms have already agreed to pay nearly £30m in compensation to affected customers but following the report, they have agreed to pay a further £10.3m.

Read the report in full here.

Northern Powergrid’s response

Phil Jones, chief executive of Northern Powergrid, has published a full response to the Ofgem report on its website.

Mr Jones said:

“As we said at the time, we understand how challenging Storm Arwen was for our customers and we are sorry for the difficulty and disruption it caused to their lives. We appreciate the patience that they showed and the dedication of our team who worked through some of the most difficult conditions we have ever faced.

“The extreme nature of the event meant we learned some difficult lessons. It highlighted some limitations in our systems and showed us things we can do to be able to provide a stronger response to more extreme storms. We are committed to doing those things to make the communities that we serve more resilient to extreme weather events.”

Fears in Scotton that gigantic solar farm will spoil picturesque village

Residents in Scotton are mobilising against plans to build a solar farm the size of 150 football pitches that they believe will spoil their picturesque village.

UK energy firm Gridserve is behind a proposal to build the solar farm on fields belonging to Lawrence Moor Farm.

Thousands of solar panels would generate up to 49.9 megawatts of green energy that could power up to 14,000 homes.

The village on the outskirts of Knaresborough has a population of around 600 people.

Scotton resident Richard Tallis, who has lived in the village for 12 years, has distributed leaflets to villagers and said 165 people have responded to say they are opposed to the plans.

Two public footpaths would be surrounded by solar panels if they were passed.

Mr Tallis said:

“We’re not against solar farms, just put them in the right places.

“Agricultural land should be used for agricultural purposes.

“There’s a strength of opinion around the village opposing it.”

The main site where Gridserve wants to put the solar panels is bound by the narrow country roads Low Moor Lane and High Moor Lane. It is also opposite the village primary school.

Mr Tallis said he fears the roads are ill-equipped to cope with eight months of construction traffic whilst the site is built.

He said he is not a “NIMBY” but feels that solar farms should be built on the edge of motorways and away from residential areas.

“I accept there will always be people that criticise us for opposing it.

“But there are other sites that are more suitable, not on the edge of a picturesque green village.”

Net-zero

This morning the UK government published its flagship energy strategy. It wants the country to produce most of the energy it uses through renewables.

It says the UK will increase current solar capacity by five times before 2035.

A spokesperson for Gridserve said:

“Matters of proximity, visual impact and access throughout the construction and operation of the Scotton solar farm will be integral parts of the forthcoming planning and design process.

“We hope we are able to proceed with the next design phases in an open, collaborative approach that involves members of the local community and other statutory and non-statutory stakeholders”