Minister visits £11m Bristol upgrade scheme

Minister for Climate Change Kerry McCarthy has visited a major project in Bristol where we are upgrading vital infrastructure that will benefit tens of thousands of residents.

The Bristol East MP was given an in-depth tour of our HQ in Feeder Road where £11 million is being invested replacing a large substation that serves the biggest number of customers in the South West.

Accompanied by Cllr Ellie King, chair of Bristol City Council’s environment committee, Ms McCarthy heard from NGED President Cordi O’Hara how the new high voltage substation will be vital to meet future power needs in the city, as more people adopt electric vehicles, heat pumps and other low-carbon technologies.

Creating extra network capacity will support demand for electricity from new developments in the Temple Quarter, which is one of the UK’s largest redevelopment projects. Over the next 25 years, 135 hectares of brownfield sites are to be transformed and 10,000 homes built.

The project to replace the end-of-life substation – which currently supplies 36,500 customers – will take five years to complete due to its engineering complexity, which includes needing to integrate with the transmission network. Hundreds of metres of new high voltage cable will be laid underground, and two new transformers and switch gear will be installed.

The Minister was also given a briefing on our work with the city council to meet Bristol’s future energy needs and how we are helping the authority develop its local energy plans.

NGED President Cordi O’Hara said: “Bristol is a fast-growing city where the electricity network will have a vital role to play in the fulfilment of its decarbonisation ambitions.

“It was great to talk constructively about that with Minister McCarthy, and also to show her how one of our multi-million pound projects in the city will help deliver those ambitions.”