Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions is about to begin a major electricity project in Hull, on behalf of its client Northern Powergrid. The major £13m scheme is one of the largest ever power investments in East Yorkshire and will reinforce the electricity network in the city and boost the reliability of power supplies in order to meet growing demand in the future.

Balfour Beatty will be installing underground high voltage power cables that will replace older cabling along a 10-kilometre route between the Creyke Beck substation at Cottingham and the Hull South substation in Hessle Road, Hull.

The work will start later this month and is expected to take around 12 months in total to complete.

Not only is the scheme one of the biggest investments in the city’s electricity infrastructure made by the power distribution network operator, but it is also is the largest project undertaken this year in Northern Powergrid’s planned investment schedule which will see more than £300 million invested throughout its operating area that covers the Northeast, Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire.

Northern Powergrid has been in discussions since last year with relevant authorities about the impact of the work, including the Hull City Council, East Riding County Council, Network Rail, the Highways Agency, the Environment Agency and other organisations.

A number of routes in and out of Hull will be affected when the work starts and Northern Powergrid and Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions have been working closely with Hull City Council to put traffic management arrangements in place in order to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.

Residents along the route are being informed of the work and leaflets are being distributed to homes and businesses and posters put on display. A customer information van will also be on hand during the start of the work.

Northern Powergrid’s Director of Asset management, Mark Drye said:

“The scheme is a major project for us that has taken a lot of careful planning. The replacement of underground high voltage cables between the north and south of the city will reinforce the supply of electricity to both residents and businesses and bring huge benefits.

“Northern Powergrid, along with our project partners Balfour Beatty, has been working closely with Hull City Council to reduce by as much as possible the impact of this major investment on the community and in particular on traffic. Inevitably, there will be some disruption and we would ask people to bear with us while we carry out the essential work and thank them for their patience.”

Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Project Manager, Marc Caisley, said:

“We’re very pleased to be working with Northern Powergrid on this essential electricity infrastructure project in Hull. Our teams have been working hard over the last few months to ensure that the planned works cause as little disruption as possible to residents and businesses.

“As with any project of this scale, there will need be some changes to traffic flow, however, we will be doing everything we can to keep the local community up-to-date during work about any alterations and informed about how work is progressing.”

Residents and businesses with any questions about the project can contact 0800 121 4444 for more information.