Latest news with #SPEN
Business News Wales
3 days ago
- Business
- Business News Wales
SP Energy Networks Contract Extensions Deliver £220M Distribution Investment
Leading distribution network operator, SP Energy Networks, is set to invest more than £220 million to help deliver the electricity grid and support the workforce of the future after it extended its overhead line contracts with key service partners. Six companies will continue to work with the business over the next four years to maintain and upgrade more than 20,000km of overhead lines across the network, helping SP Energy Networks (SPEN) deliver on the commitments in its Electricity Distribution (ED) 2 business plan, which covers the years 2023-2028, while getting ready for ED3. Securing these contracts gives a welcome boost to the overhead line supply chain and its in-demand resources. This will support more than 500 jobs – including 50-plus new linesmen jobs – across the country, with the companies based in and around SPEN's Scotland and Manweb licence areas, ensuring ready access to the technical skills and resources needed. The partner companies are: Scottish-based Aureos, Gaeltec and PLPC, which will support the six licence districts in central and southern Scotland (Ayrshire & Clyde South, Central & Fife, Dumfries & Galloway, Edinburgh & Borders, Glasgow & Clyde North, Lanarkshire). Emerald Power, IES and Network Plus – all based in the north-west of England – which will support the licence districts in Mid-Cheshire, Merseyside, Dee Valley and Mid Wales, Wirral and North Wales. Nicola Connelly, SPEN CEO, said: 'Ensuring we have the partners, resources and technical skills in place to deliver on our bold and ambitious plans for our network is vital for the modern and resilient grid needed to support the doubling of demand. 'These contracts not only support significant investment in our overhead line network, they allow us to build on the solid foundations created with our supply chain partners and give certainty and confidence to further invest in their skills and people. It's a win-win on both sides and we look forward to working together to make a long and lasting difference for all our communities – from Anstruther to Anglesey.' Iain Thomson, Head of Distribution at Aureos, said: 'This contract reflects the mutual respect and trust we have with SPEN and will help bring new resources into the industry. We have invested heavily in recruiting local trainees and will continue to upskill our existing staff while increasing trainee intakes to deliver on SPEN's investment programme – continuing to grow our business in Scotland.' Adrian Rowley, Head of Contracts for Emerald Power, said: 'This is an extremely significant milestone for Emerald Power and provides the opportunity to further invest in our business –recruiting, training and upskilling the resources needed to deliver for SPEN's customers. Sharing the modern apprenticeship course at Bangor's Coleg Menai with other service partners and SP Energy Networks is a key element of this and enables a fantastic opportunity for anyone across the communities we serve to have a very fulfilling and rewarding career working on the network.' Daniel Rodrigues, Managing Director, Gaeltec Utilities UK Ltd, said: 'We are delighted to have successfully extended our contract with SPEN for overhead line works in its Ayrshire and Lanarkshire districts. This is great news for both Gaeltec and our employees, giving certainty looking ahead and creating confidence to grow our investment in our business and our people. 'On the back of this, we are pleased to confirm our continued local recruitment of trainee linesmen, with the latest intake underway.' Conor O'Neill, Executive Director, IES Utilities Group, said: 'Following SPEN's announcement of the overhead line contract extensions, IES Utilities Group is pleased to continue playing a key role in supporting the delivery of critical network infrastructure. We welcome the opportunity to build on the strong foundations we have now in place. This extension is a testament to the collaborative efforts and shared commitment between SPEN and IES Utilities Group. We're proud to continue delivering high-quality overhead line solutions that help strengthen the resilience and reliability of the electricity network for communities across the Manweb region.' Dale Harrison Managing Director at PLPC said: 'PLPC are proud to extend our partnership with SPEN for a further four years. This contract demonstrates a significant commitment from SPEN to our industry and enables a long-term and collaborative approach to meeting the current skills gaps within the market. PLPC has worked continually for SPEN for over 50 years and we're well placed to further develop our local workforce, which will continue to deliver the critical infrastructure upgrades to the network as we progress towards net zero.' Dave Prescott, Network Plus Managing Director, said: 'This four-year contract extension is a fantastic achievement for Network Plus and a testament to the hard work of everybody who has worked on the overhead line contract with SPEN. We are a proud and long-standing overhead line partner of SPEN, with our relationship going back to 2018. We now look forward to four more years delivering excellence to SPEN customers and investing in the recruitment of locally-sourced overhead line apprentices and trainees as we continue to meet SPEN's increased network investment.'
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
In poor health, CBSE 12 student scores 88.6%
Navi Mumbai: Nerul's 18-year-old Vrriddhi Kabra from Delhi Public School has secured 88.6% in CBSE Class 12 (science) exams, despite facing health underwent a surgery for gallbladder stones removal in 2024. She has also been suffering recurring palpitations, breathing issues, and complications from a subtotal gastrectomy following a SPEN tumour operation in 2020. Her medical condition limited her school attendance, yet her teachers provided vital support in completing the curriculum. Vrriddhi scored 97 in both English and Biology, her favourite subjects. She aspires to pursue a medical career, with pharmacy as an alternative option if not MBBS. She said her performance could have matched her Class 10 score of 96% had her health been better. Beyond academics, Vrriddhi is a Bharatanatyam dancer with 7 years of training. "I am also good at drawing. Due to health reasons, I am not practising dance regularly," she said. — B B Nayak
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can a re-routed cross-border pylons plan appease locals?
Energy network bosses hope that a revised route for taking energy to England will appease at least some rural residents of the Scottish Borders. Since plans for the Cross Border Connection were revealed last year protest groups have been formed in communities near the proposed pylons. Following the backlash, Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) have altered several sections of the 57-mile route between Lauder and the border, south of Newcastleton. But Rosi Lister from Action Against Pylons - a collection of local community protest groups - warned: "It's all very well revising the route, but as soon as you move it from one place you affect another community." SPEN project manager Ewan Borthwick said: "Historically we've had energy coming from the south - England and Wales - through nuclear and hydro, so it's now our turn to send renewable energy the other way." The Cross Border Connection is seen as a vital link in the UK upgrade of the national grid. Dozens of wind farms and solar energy parks - from the Highlands all the way down to the Borders - are already connected to the grid, with many more projects in the pipeline. Finding a suitable route for the 60-metre high pylons, between a proposed new electricity substation near Lauder and awaiting cables at the border near Carlisle, is proving problematic for SPEN. And bosses have ruled out an underground solution. Mr Borthwick added: "We know from previous projects that it is between six and nine times more expensive for an underground cable solution, rather than overhead. "Going underground would take this project from the hundreds of millions [of pounds] into the billions, and we have a licence from Ofgem to come up with the most cost-efficient solution. "It will be the electricity bill payers that will be paying for this over the next 50 years or so." The revised route has taken the planned pylons further away from the villages of Roberton and Etrrickbridge - but moved them closer to settlements at Craik and Yarrow Feus. There is also more use of areas already covered in forestry and the new route will have less impact on the World War II prisoner of war camp at Stobbs, outside Hawick. More stories from South Scotland Listen to news for the Scottish Borders on BBC Sounds SPEN's environmental planner Malrlene Marimbe said: "We reviewed all of the feedback from the public and statutory stakeholders during the consultation for the original route and modified the original preferred route. "We believe this alternative route is more balanced when it comes to the concerns we received about visual impact and also the attractiveness of the landscape. "We also took into account concerns about environmental impact as well as health impacts of proximity to residential properties." The latest consultation over the route will end on May 2, with the official proposed Cross Border Connection route being published later in the year. Around half a dozen community protest groups along the route have come together to form Action Against Pylons. Rosi Lister from the group said: "We believe this will destroy a large part of the Scottish Borders. "It's all very well revising the route, but as soon as you move it from one place you affect another community. "There are no winners with these pylons." Protesters to fight cross-border giant pylon plans
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
A new route for a cross-border pylons plan - can it appease locals?
Energy network bosses hope that a revised route for taking energy to England will appease at least some rural residents of the Scottish plans for the Cross Border Connection were revealed last year protest groups have been formed in communities near the proposed the backlash, Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) have altered several sections of the 57-mile route between Lauder and the border, south of Rosi Lister from Action Against Pylons - a collection of local community protest groups - warned: "It's all very well revising the route, but as soon as you move it from one place you affect another community." SPEN project manager Ewan Borthwick said: "Historically we've had energy coming from the south - England and Wales - through nuclear and hydro, so it's now our turn to send renewable energy the other way." The Cross Border Connection is seen as a vital link in the UK upgrade of the national of wind farms and solar energy parks - from the Highlands all the way down to the Borders - are already connected to the grid, with many more projects in the a suitable route for the 60-metre high pylons, between a proposed new electricity substation near Lauder and awaiting cables at the border near Carlisle, is proving problematic for SPEN. And bosses have ruled out an underground Borthwick added: "We know from previous projects that it is between six and nine times more expensive for an underground cable solution, rather than overhead."Going underground would take this project from the hundreds of millions [of pounds] into the billions, and we have a licence from Ofgem to come up with the most cost-efficient solution."It will be the electricity bill payers that will be paying for this over the next 50 years or so." The revised route has taken the planned pylons further away from the villages of Roberton and Etrrickbridge - but moved them closer to settlements at Craik and Yarrow is also more use of areas already covered in forestry and the new route will have less impact on the World War II prisoner of war camp at Stobbs, outside Hawick. SPEN's environmental planner Malrlene Marimbe said: "We reviewed all of the feedback from the public and statutory stakeholders during the consultation for the original route and modified the original preferred route."We believe this alternative route is more balanced when it comes to the concerns we received about visual impact and also the attractiveness of the landscape."We also took into account concerns about environmental impact as well as health impacts of proximity to residential properties." The latest consultation over the route will end on May 2, with the official proposed Cross Border Connection route being published later in the half a dozen community protest groups along the route have come together to form Action Against Lister from the group said: "We believe this will destroy a large part of the Scottish Borders."It's all very well revising the route, but as soon as you move it from one place you affect another community."There are no winners with these pylons."
BBC News
30-01-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
'Survival mode': Storm Éowyn left us without power for six days
A couple left without power for almost six days after Storm Éowyn have described going into "survival mode" to cope with plunging temperatures. Carol and Kenneth Morris were among tens of thousands of households across Scotland who lost electricity during winds of up to 100mph last Friday. The retired couple who live near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway were only reconnected to the grid on Wednesday they claim that, despite their vulnerabilities, they struggled to get reliable information or support from SP Energy Networks (SPEN). The network operator said its 700 engineers finally completed their work reconnecting 206,000 customers in central and southern Scotland early on Thursday morning. Carol, 66, told BBC Scotland News that they were also left without a reliable phone signal or access to their private water supply. They relied on their log burner to keep warm, used a camping stove to heat tins of soup, and read books by torch light. "You feel yourself almost shutting down because you're so cold," she said. "You've got no stimulation, you've no contact with anybody. It sounds dramatic but you're just going into survival mode."Due to the effect the power cut had on accessing their water supply, they boiled bottled water on their camping stove to wash themselves. Carol said she was "quite frightened" to use the stove to heat food or water after dark. Without a reliable phone line, they had no way of alerting the emergency services if an accident happened. "And then there was the worry that log supplies were running out because everyone was in the same situation so I had to drive around [local towns] on Monday trying to get logs," she said. "If we had been without a log burner, we would have been freezing." The couple said their contact with SPEN during the power cut was limited. The text messages they received advising when their power would be restored were inaccurate and in one instance wrongly informed them that they had been Carol got through to an operator to ask about access to hot food, she was offered Just Eat or Deliveroo vouchers - but the food delivery services do not operate in rural Dumfries and Galloway. She said they were not offered hotel accommodation and did not have access to the internet to get information about nearby warm hubs, food vans or being reimbursed for additional costs. Teenage driver killed by falling tree during Storm Éowyn'We're devastated at losing Edinburgh's tallest treeFife community feels 'abandoned' Storm ÉowynAnd even though the couple are on SPEN's priority services register, due to their age and Carol's MS diagnosis, they had no one knocking on their door to check on them. Kenneth, 73, said: "We're not bad, we're fairly fit, but I'm sure there are lots of people less fit than us and older than us who really felt trapped in their homes."[They're should have been] someone coming to say are you all right? Not phoning them - there's no point phoning them if you've not got a [working] telephone line - knocking on the door and saying are you all right? Can we bring you some food, can we bring you some water? Can I bring you some hot drinks? "Things like that would make a huge difference. Now I'm not saying take people off the repairs for that, I'm sure the repair teams are working extremely hard and do a really good job. "But cut out all the PR nonsense ... and use those people to do something useful, never mind saying how hard everyone's working and how wonderful SPEN is ... just get out and do something useful." SPEN said the electricity network in central and southern Scotland sustained more than 100 days' worth of faults in under three days. They added that call centre staff handled more than 94,000 calls - three months' worth in four days. The firm said they sent more than 270,000 text messages to customers on the priority services register and face-to-face visits were made to more than 1,400 of their most vulnerable customers. Customers without power for more than 48 hours are entitled to automatic compensation, they added, and those who paid for their own alternative accommodation and food while they had no power can submit a claim for reimbursement. Nicola Connelly, SPEN CEO, said: "This has been a truly colossal task with our teams pulling out all the stops – and making use of every possible resource at our disposal as well as drafting in people and resources from across the country – with that singular aim of getting all our customers affected by the storm back on supply as quickly and safely as possible."It's been complex and challenging, but our teams stayed focused and persevered until we achieved just that – helped massively by the patience, resilience and understanding of our customers. "We know it's been difficult and you were always at the heart of the tremendous team effort made right across our business, so thank you for your support."
