UK Power Networks to boost substation communications

UK Power Networks has planned to invest more than six million to upgrade its communications networks for nearly 10,000 secondary substations across London.

The investment will futureproof the company’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) communications systems, through which it controls, manages and monitors its substations.

Plans are currently underway to upgrade its fleet of Remote Telemetry Units (RTUs) to use any locally available communications network, such as O2 or Three, improving the ability to monitor substations from a centralised location.

The communications upgrade will allow UK Power Networks to receive better data about its equipment which is spread across a wide area, including maintenance requirements, improving service to customers through reducing the risk of power cuts.

Roger Yeo, Operational Telecoms Manager at UK Power Networks, says, “This investment across our London network will ensure we continue to build resilience into our substation communications for many years to come.

“Improving the reliability of these communication systems will improve our knowledge of the operational status and health of our substations. This information will be used to respond and reconnect our customers more quickly when a fault occurs on the network. Improved asset monitoring will ultimately also reduce the likelihood of power cuts in the future for our customers.”