Hook Norton hooks up

Funded through Tier 1 of Ofgem’s Low Carbon Networks Fund, the scheme is looking to trial substation monitoring, as well as giving customers the opportunity to better understand their own energy usage through the installation of a smart node.

Over 40 smart nodes have now been installed by WPD across the village and communications have been established between the nodes and substations using a power line carrier (PLC) - a communications method sending messages through live electricity cables. This month has seen significant progress with testing of the PLC and installation of a radio communications system to get information back from our local substations. Due to the location of the village and the surrounding hills, this has proved challenging at times, but further testing has proved that essential data can be sent through the system.

A number of other substations will have monitoring fitted in the coming weeks, giving us a fuller view of the total energy consumption of the village.

For further information on this project please contact wpdinnovation@westernpower.co.uk.