About the project
The substation at Cellarhead was built in the 1960s and has been in operation for over 50 years. It is essential equipment which plays a critical role in providing electricity to homes and businesses.
We need to build a small extension to create a new bay to the north of the existing site at Cellarhead to allow us to install some new equipment.
This equipment is needed to connect renewable energy generation projects coming forward in the local area to the electricity transmission network. The new bay we’re building is approximately 125m wide by 25m long, representing a 3% increase in the overall footprint of the developed site.
The extension is being designed so that the new infrastructure does not extend above the height of the existing infrastructure and treeline.
Construction work began in spring 2025 and will take approximately two years. The latest construction updates are available on the home page.
Why do we need to upgrade Cellarhead substation?
• Our existing substation and infrastructure at Cellarhead does not have the capacity to connect new renewable energy generation projects coming forward in the local area.
• The essential upgrades will help to reinforce the network and will enable future new connections to support the UK’s mission to achieve net zero by 2050.
• As a regulated business, we have a legal obligation to connect customers to our network when a connection is requested.
• As well as meeting the needs of the projects we are connecting, the substation is a key part of our nationwide upgrade of the grid network to meet future electricity demand.
Ecology
We have carried out extensive surveys, including heritage and ecology, to help inform our work and minimise our impact on the local area. This will ensure that the project leaves the surrounding wildlife habitats in a better state than they were before the work began.
We are committed to providing a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain in areas where it is bringing forward infrastructure projects. At Cellarhead we’ll be delivering this on site in a section of land that we own to the south west of the substation.