SSEN Distribution is today starting work on a major upgrade to the local electricity network at Piperdam, near Dundee, enhancing the security of supply as part of a £7million investment programme being undertaken across Tayside.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month, will see teams install 850m of new underground cable along Osprey Road, in addition to installing new automated technology at the local substations.
Megan Dougan, SSEN's Project Manager, explains more about the work that will be taking place and the benefits it will bring to the local community:
"Our project is all about ensuring the properties in Piperdam have a safe, secure and reliable supply of electricity and the work we are doing will mean that on the rare occasion that there is a power cut, we can get customers' supplies back on as safely and as quickly as possible.
"The new switchgear allows engineers in our central control room to remotely control the switches which turn the power on and off, whereas in the past a colleague would have needed to go to the local substation to do it all by hand.
"The additional 850m of cable we are installing offers greater flexibility in the ways we can reconfigure the network to keep the power flowing; for example, during essential maintenance which requires the main network to be switched off to let our engineers work safely, where we would have previously had to bring in mobile generation to keep the power flowing, we will now be able to re-route supplies utilising the new cable."
Samantha O'Connor, SSEN's Customer Relationship Manager, said that SSEN is committed to keeping potential disruption to a minimum, and although teams will be working on Osprey Road during the project, the road itself will stay open at all times.
"Our teams will be working in consecutive stages along Osprey Road from Monday to Saturday, and to ensure the safety of our customers and staff on site, we will have traffic management set up on sections of Osprey Road and the A923 where our teams are working. Residential and essential access will continue to be available throughout the project.
"These road closures, along with diversion routes, will be signposted in advance and we would like to thank the local community for their patience as our teams carry out this essential work."