New power infrastructure has reinforced supplies in Romford, as part of a £6.8 million electricity investment upgrade in partnership with a leading local business.
UK Power Networks has installed two new transformers and state-of-the-art switching equipment at an electricity substation in the north of the town to help maintain reliable electricity supplies for local homes and businesses.
The project costs have been shared with the company Infinity, to include a connection to power its new London East 2 data centre providing jobs for the area, while the overall work will benefit the wider public by increasing power capacity locally.
Transformers lower the voltage, enabling electricity to safely flow down UK Power Networks’ cables to people’s homes, and switching equipment means that during a power cut, some power supplies can be quickly restored remotely before an engineer arrives to fix any repairs needed
Duane Gay, project manager, for UK Power Networks, said: “Our work in partnership with Infinity is future proofing the network for the local community and will have lasting benefits.
“This joint investment in the north of Romford has reinforced power supplies and will ensure reliability across the area going forward as well as being part of a major connections project which will create jobs in the town. It is a win-win for the local community.”
Stuart Sutton, CEO at Infinity, said: “This investment has significantly boosted capacity at our London East Data Centre campus supporting the continued demand for digital infrastructure and allowing our customers to grow on-site with us.”
UK Power Networks is investing £600 million in the electricity network across the South East, London and East of England this year. More than eight million homes and businesses are connected to electricity via the company’s cables and substations.
