• Multi-million-pound programme of investment will more than double the electricity capacity available to 13,000 homes and businesses in Buckinghamshire.

  • The availability of more electricity will support the move to electric cars, heat pumps, and solar panels.

  • Improvements will also deliver a more reliable electricity supply in an increasingly volatile climate.

We're starting to deliver a multi-million-pound upgrade of the electricity network in Buckinghamshire. This project, which will be delivered in partnership with contractors OCU Group, will further improve the reliability and capacity of the network for almost 13,000 customers in the county.

Three primary substations supplying electricity to homes and businesses in the High Wycombe area are all forecast to support a big increase in the demand for clean power, as households and companies move over to low-carbon technologies for their heating and transport needs. A key part of this project will be to upgrade the transformers and associated critical equipment within these sites. Because this work will take place within substation compounds, it will progress with no disruption to the wider public.

New 33kV cable routes will also be constructed between Stokenchurch and High Wycombe, and between High Wycombe and Chisbridge. These will be underground routes, and some work on the public roads will be needed. Ahead of the project getting underway, our team has been working closely with Buckinghamshire Council. Both the Council and ourselves are committed to the efficient planning of the necessary construction works, while ensuring disruption to residents and businesses is kept to an absolute minimum. Completion of this part of the project is expected in 2027.

On one section of line, which will run beneath the River Wye, the latest underground drilling technology will be used to install the cable; this technique will avoid disturbing the river’s ecosystem, while also avoiding some listed properties nearby.

Benedict Diment, SSEN's Project Manager says:

“Buckinghamshire’s households and businesses are calling for more electricity, and this project will help deliver it for thousands of them. The laying of new cable routes, and the installation of new state-of-the-art substation equipment, will transform the local electricity network. It’ll massively increase the capacity on offer for people and businesses who want to charge an EV, warm their property with a heat pump, or generate and export their own clean electricity via solar panels.

“As with most infrastructure projects, work on public roadways will be needed at times to deliver some aspects of our investment. I’d like to thank our colleagues at Buckinghamshire Council for their proactivity and support during the planning stage of these works; together we’ll work hard to ensure any disruption to road users and residents is kept to a minimum.

“We’ll also be using the latest in cable-installation technology in part of the planned route to further minimise any impact to the local environment arising from these works.”