ABOVE IMAGE CREDIT: Pawel Pajor / Adobe Stock
We're making an investment of more than £200m to future-proof and enhance the electricity distribution network for hundreds of thousands of customers across Oxfordshire.
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£200m investment will improve resilience and support communities’ decarbonisation
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Investment will unlock more electricity capacity for homes, businesses and new green industries
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The transformation will make the network even more resilient in a more volatile climate
Starting later this spring, the programme of works we'll deliver with our partners OCU Group, will ensure the area’s network has the necessary capacity and resilience to power homes, businesses and public services long into the future, paving the way for cleaner, greener energy and helping to drive sustainable economic growth.
To be carried out mainly between now and the turn of the decade, the programme of works will take place across the region, including in Oxford city, Headington and Yarnton, and will support homes and business in three key areas of sustainable, economic and environmental importance:
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Supporting decarbonisation
Aligning with regional and national sustainability targets, this huge investment will enable the connection of Low Carbon Technologies like EV chargers and heat pumps, and support new renewable community and small-scale generation like solar, to produce more clean, green energy for local use
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Building more security, resilience and capacity in the network
This upgrade of the local system will mean that 270,000 homes and businesses will benefit from a more secure, flexible and resilient electricity supply to meet their needs long into the future
- Supporting and driving sustainable economic growth
Futureproofing the area’s network ensures it can support innovation, technology and jobs. Already at the heart of the UK’s innovation economy, Oxfordshire is entering a period of rapid planned growth, with a commitment from its six county councils to deliver 100,000 homes by 2031, alongside the creation of 86,500 jobs
Carl Pates, SSEN’s Oxfordshire Project Director, says:
“As our customers move away from fossil fuels and look to renewable electricity to power and heat their homes, cars, technology and workplaces, we need to make sure the electricity system has the capacity and resilience to support these ambitions.
“Through this £200 million investment, we’ll support these national, regional and local growth ambitions, and ensure that the power our customers need now and in the future is in the right place at the right time.”
Carl continued:
“This project will have a positive impact on the local area, and it will be carried out considerately, so the works themselves have as little impact as possible on neighbouring communities.
“One of the ways in which we are doing this is to plan years ahead and take steps now to prevent disruption in the future, such as our project to put multiple sections of cable under the ground at the start of these works. This will be future-proofed and ready to support forthcoming connections to the network, so we’ll only need to work in some areas once, with no need to return each time a new connection is added.”
Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader Oxfordshire County Council with responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations adds:
“I'm delighted with this vital and substantial investment by SSEN in our electricity infrastructure. It will bring jobs, opportunities and an even more resilient power supply to the local area, enabling so many more homes and businesses to take up low carbon technologies; using energy more efficiently, costing less to run, and cutting pollution.
“This enhanced electricity network will help end the problems connecting new housing to the grid, and support the increasing use of electric vehicles, solar panels and heat pumps. It will improve energy security and help protect us from the impacts of extreme weather. It will also add to Oxfordshire’s reputation as a forward-thinking county, keen to lead the way with new technologies and developing more STEM careers for the next generation.”
The Oxfordshire project will result in much of the work taking place within existing substation sites, which will have very little impact on neighbouring communities, while in other areas modernisation work and cable replacement, will be more visible. When improvements are being made to the network in a specific area, SSEN will be in touch in good time to give homes and businesses more information.