Nationwide Grid has begun an improve of its Didcot substation in Oxfordshire to attach new information centres and 650MW of battery vitality storage to the transmission community, whereas deploying SF6-free switchgear to chop emissions.
Located beside the previous Didcot A coal energy station and round two miles from the Culham AI Development Zone, the mission is meant to spice up grid capability for the world’s increasing digital and vitality infrastructure. Alongside deliberate information centre connections, the battery schemes are anticipated to bolster flexibility as demand for zero-carbon energy rises.
The programme extends the prevailing 400kV out of doors air-insulated substation with three further bays and three supergrid transformers. A brand new 132kV indoor gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) constructing will probably be constructed alongside to minimise land take and environmental impression.
The GIS corridor will use Hitachi Power’s EconiQ switchgear, a sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)-free various to the greenhouse fuel broadly used as {an electrical} insulator. Nationwide Grid says the deployment helps its dedication to scale back SF6 emissions from its community by 50% by 2030.
Linxon has been appointed principal contractor for the works, following collaboration with Nationwide Grid on initiatives together with London Energy Tunnels, which can host the UK’s first SF6-free GIS substation at Bengeworth Street. The Didcot scheme follows the beginning of building at Uxbridge Moor substation in Buckinghamshire, which is because of join greater than a dozen information centres and also will use SF6-free switchgear.
Peter Hancock, Undertaking Director at Nationwide Grid Electrical energy Transmission, famous, “Our Didcot substation extension marks one other step ahead in powering the UK’s digital future. By enabling new information centres and battery storage techniques to hook up with the grid, we’re supporting each the vitality transition and the expansion of the digital economic system regionally and nationally.
“And with SF6-free know-how at its coronary heart, this mission displays our dedication to constructing a cleaner, greener electrical energy community for generations to come back.””
Angel Guijarro, Managing Director of Linxon Europe, added, “Linxon’s appointment to this mission is a testomony to our robust partnership with Nationwide Grid and our shared imaginative and prescient for a sustainable vitality future. We’re dedicated to delivering a turnkey resolution that can improve the reliability and effectivity of Didcot substation, benefiting each native and nationwide communities.”
