Major milestone in upgrade to electricity network across the South West

A new transformer weighing 150 tonnes – equivalent to 25 African elephants – has successfully been delivered to a National Grid substation near Exeter.

When installed, the vital new equipment will help boost the resilience and capacity of the electricity transmission network across the South West, supporting homes and businesses for years to come.

The delivery marks a major milestone in National Grid’s ongoing upgrade to its Exeter substation, helping to ensure the network remains reliable as electricity demand continues to grow.

Movement of the massive piece of equipment took place overnight, when it was carefully transported along the 23-mile journey from ABP’s Port of Teignmouth to the substation site near the village of Broadclyst.

The delivery was carried out by specialist hauliers under police escort, with traffic management measures in place to minimise disruption. National Grid worked closely with local and highways authorities, and the police, ensuring the movement was safely completed with minimal disturbance to the local community.

Transformers are essential pieces of substation equipment which help to manage voltage so that electricity can be safely and efficiently transmitted and distributed around the country.

This particular unit is a static compensator transformer (SCT), which plays a key role in keeping the electricity network’s voltage steady and stable to ensure a reliable supply of power for local homes and businesses.

Ongoing upgrade works at the substation will also see the delivery and installation of a second new transformer, both units replacing equipment that is nearing the end of its operational life.

The work forms part of National Grid’s long term investment to futureproof the electricity transmission network in the South West.

Jacob Demuth, project manager at National Grid, said:

“Moving equipment of this size safely and efficiently is a real team effort. We’ve worked closely with Devon County Council, National Highways, police and our specialist haulage partners to carefully plan and complete the delivery with minimal disruption to road users and the local community.

“The new unit at Exeter substation will help ensure resilience and future stability on the network across the South West, and will support growing energy demands. We’d like to thank our partners and the community for supporting us while we carried out this important work.”

Councillor Dan Thomas, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, said:

“This move has been a massive logistical operation on behalf of all of the partners involved. Devon County Council has been involved in helping plan the route for more than four years.

“Our teams carried out a huge amount of work, assessing the load-carrying capacity of structures on the route and ensuring adequate width for the convoy by temporarily removing bollards, streetlights, lamp columns and signs – all of which will now be put back in place. On-street parking restrictions were also temporarily suspended on specific sections of the route.

“Throughout all of the planning process and the transportation of the transformer itself, public safety has been paramount.”

Local residents with any questions or concerns can contact the Exeter substation upgrade team at [email protected] or by calling 0800 099 6097 (Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm).