Balfour Beatty today announces that it has been awarded a £52 million contract on behalf of National Grid to deliver essential cabling works as part of the London Power Tunnels 2 project.
Having delivered the cabling works for phase one of the project, north of the Thames, in 2017 Balfour Beatty will now embark on the second phase of the ambitious scheme to ‘rewire London and connect with the capital’. Works will include installing 200km of 400kV cables within a 32.5-kilometer tunnel network, deep below the ground between Wimbledon and Crayford.
Connecting several substations across the city, the cables will run through an underground tunnel network to minimise disruption to local communities and the travelling public when future maintenance and repair works are required.
To enhance efficiency and precision Balfour Beatty will deploy the second generation of its Automated Cable Installation Equipment (ACIE) machine. Developed in-house and utilised on the first phase of the scheme, the second-generation machine features laser sensors and cameras to improve the speed and quality of the works.
By automating the process, the ACIE has also revolutionised the safety of tunnel cable installation works by reducing the number of people required within the underground tunnels manually installing the cables.
Ian Currie, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission and Distribution business said: “We are delighted to be working with National Grid once again. Our world leading expertise and innovation in tunnel cable installation, combined with our deep sector knowledge, makes us ideally positioned to successfully deliver this critical piece of national infrastructure.”
Cable installation will begin in January 2023 with the full package of works expected to be completed in 2026. At peak construction, Balfour Beatty will employ a workforce of around 150 people, as well as approximately 8 apprentices.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
- Balfour Beatty (balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 26,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
- Our main geographies are the UK, US and Hong Kong. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
- Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks. From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support clients in the development of some of the UK’s most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.
- Significant projects in the company’s current portfolio include the c. £47 million Fort Augustus to Fort William 132kV Transmission Reinforcement project and the c. £43.5 million Beauly to Keith 132kV modernisation programme on behalf of Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc, and the £300m contract with National Grid to deliver both the 400kV overhead line and 400kV cable works on the critical Hinkley Point C connection scheme.
- SSEN Transmission, operating as Scottish Hydro Electric (SHE) Transmission plc under licence, owns, operates and develops the high voltage electricity transmission system in the north of Scotland and remote islands.
