SSEN £7.7 million Fort Widley project

The scheme is progressing to upgrade the electricity network in and around Portsmouth

Transcript

00:00I'm Glenn Beard, the project site manager for the Fort Woodley 132KV project.

00:08So the project is to replace two fluid-filled 132KV circuits which are coming to the end

00:13of their lifespan.

00:14We're putting two new XLPE circuits in, basically boosting the whole of Portsmouth's electricity

00:18supply and making it more resilient for future works.

00:22We've had to basically take a directional drill from the top site here, through the

00:27Chalk, Portsdown Hill, and then get that out at the bottom here, so that's gone underneath

00:32the carriageway, that's gone underneath a huge embankment which is a SSSI, quite a few

00:39surprises in regards to nature at this location.

00:43We opted for HDD drill to come down the hill.

00:47So this needed a lot of coordination planning, it needed a lot of temporary work set up at

00:53the base of the hill, where the receive pit was for the drilling platform.

00:57Now the area where we've actually conducted the HDD is actually in a protected area, and

01:01it's actually under what they know as a SSSI licence.

01:04The licences were agreed and we've had to adhere by licence conditions throughout construction.

01:09So this involves predominantly leaving any area we visit in exactly the same position

01:16when we leave.

01:17We have multiple different species of snakes, species of butterflies, wildflowers, any kind

01:22of contamination that we bring in could affect the ecological balance of it, so it's one

01:26of our main considerations on this scheme.

01:29It's one of our most important projects.

01:31It will enable people in the Portsmouth area to have a good supply of electricity for many

01:34years to come.

01:35So in terms of my wider portfolio, this will ultimately enable me to do other projects

01:41as the years progress.

01:42SSSI is very passionate about making sure that we support our communities, we'll work

01:48with customers and other stakeholders in the area to maintain good relationships.

01:53Ultimately SSSI is here for the long term, and it's really important then that we work

01:57with groups to ensure those projects progress smoothly.