Upgrade for village electricity network

UK Power Networks, which owns, manages and maintains the electricity distribution network for the South-East, is spending the money by laying around 1,500m of new high-voltage cables around the village.

The work will improve the resilience of the local electricity distribution network, serving around 300 homes and businesses.

The initial excavation phase, which has already started, will take place over the next three to four weeks in the Junction Road area and also to the west of the village centre.

There will also be some preparatory work in readiness for early December, when the new cables will be energised and the old cables are taken out of service.

Bill Blackburn, the Sussex area manager for network operations, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to start this work after a substantial period of time planning and negotiating legal consents for the cable routes.

“Our contractor, Compass Infrastructure, will be keeping any disruption to residents and drivers to an absolute minimum.

“And while we can never guarantee an uninterrupted power supply, I am confident that the replacement of these cables and associated works will substantially improve the quality and security of power supplies to the Bodiam area.”

Residents in the area have been sent letters explaining the project.

UK Power Networks says it will be contacting them again in the coming weeks with further details about when the new equipment will start delivering their power.

The upgrade in Bodiam is just part of UK Power Networks’ multi-million pound investment into electricity networks this year in a bid to improve the performance of its network and to meet future needs for power.

The company’s £360million investment in its electricity networks this year (2012/13) is part of a projected annual investment of £1.8billion over the five years to 2015.