The Estate Office is currently in the process of completing a long-term series of projects to replace the University’s high voltage electrical infrastructure at University Park.

The high voltage network, that is owned and operated by the University, distributes electricity to all parts of the Campus. The team have been working over a 10-year period to replace 7.5 km of underground cabling and equipment within 23 high voltage substations across the campus to ensure that the system is reliable, resilient and fit for the demands of a modern university.

The team have delivered this business-critical and technically challenging project without disruption to teaching and research, which has resulted in a dramatic improvement to the reliability of supply. The final elements of the replacement project will take place from Monday 10 August to Sunday 13 September. This will involve retiring the intake substation equipment, which dates back to 1956, and replacing it with up-to-date equipment. This will provide improved resilience and increased functionality whilst increasing our capacity of renewable technologies, reducing carbon emissions and fully supporting research and teaching. Following this, off-campus work will be undertaken in December by our partners Western Power Distribution to facilitate increased capacity.

During the works, taking place between Monday 10 August and Sunday 13 September, the team will need to manage energy usage to minimise the risk to engineers. Whilst users across campus should notice no difference to their electrical supplies, it is imperative that electrical demand is minimised during the period of the works. Colleagues across University Park are therefore encouraged to switch off electrical items that are not required and to consult with Estates on any planned utilisation of large items of electrical equipment during the at-risk period.

This will help avoid any interruption to supplies and the introduction of delays to the project which would extend the at-risk period and present associated issues to ongoing business.

For any further details and enquiries regarding the work, please contact the Estates Office by email or via the Estates helpdesk.