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Concerned about vulnerability in a power cut?

We are planning to invest £35M to boost the electricity network in the local area.

We’ve submitted a planning application to build a new substation, which we’ll connect 4.6km of new underground cables to. Our substation will be accessed via a new access road off Blanket Street in East Worldham.

Our new underground cables will replace some existing overhead lines. This cable work is considered permitted development, which means they are not part of this planning application. Download our design of the substation to see what we are proposing.

Our planning application is available on the East Hampshire District Council Planning Portal. If granted, it would allow the underground cables to be connected, from new and existing overhead powerlines to a new electricity substation along three separate routes. A planning decision is expected in February 2025; with the project completing by October 2028 at the earliest.  

Read our FAQs below for details on the cable routes.

The project would provide visual improvement to the local landscape

This project will not only enhance network resilience, ensuring reliable electricity supply for years to come, but also support local economic growth by meeting the energy demands of homes and businesses in the region. The project will also enhance the landscape by removing approximately 4km of overhead lines and 18 pylons from the landscape.

Download our map below to see where the overhead lines would be removed. Removing this section of overhead lines will also reduce the number of access requests made to landowners, for future maintenance works.

Join us at our community event

As part of our commitment to keep the local community informed, we’re hosting a community drop-in event:

The next community drop-in event will take place on 22 January 2025 at the Shed in Bordon (GU35 0DJ). The team be at the Shed will between 3pm and 7pm.

Why are these works being proposed?

We need to upgrade our network to meet increased demand from new homes around Alton. Our new substation will provide an energy “buffer” for Fernhurst – reducing the impact of any outages in our wider network and mean we can connect new low-carbon energy technologies – like solar panels and battery storage – to our network.

Our project will:

  • provide a more resilient power supply during adverse weather
  • remove approximately 4 kilometres of overhead lines and 14 pylons from view
  • create additional capacity so we can connect solar generation, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps to our network
  • reduce access requests to landowners for maintenance

We have the environment in mind

The works are futureproofing and strengthening your area’s power supply to cope with severe weather events. It will also help support greater uptake of low carbon technologies.

Discover more on our Smarter Electricity page.

Ecology and Biodiversity

We are committed to protecting and improving our natural environment. This includes biodiversity net gain (BNG) in line with planning requirements.

We have carried out extensive surveys along our cabling route and substation site to understand the impact we might have and identify the work we need to do to deliver our BNG commitments.

We will make sure all our teams are aware of any protected habitats and species and the mitigations we’ve put in place. For example, we’ll avoid removing vegetation used by nesting birds between March and August.

We will also work with ecologists to carry out fingertip searches for dormice before we clear any vegetation and only use hand tools to minimise disturbance.

Commonly asked questions

Download our documents