£1.5 million investment for Haverfordwest power network

Over £1.5 million is being spent to further improve power supplies at a substation in West Wales.

WPD Projects Engineer Jonathan Loring, is pictured checking switchgear inside Merlin’s Bridge substation.

We are committed to investing in our network to further improve supply reliability and customer service levels.

This new initiative, which began in February at Merlin’s Bridge substation serving around 7,000 customers in Haverfordwest, will involve the upgrading and replacement of two transformers and associated switchgear and in addition the construction of a new brick building.

The existing 1950s brick built substation was suffering from subsidence. That, coupled with the fact that the switchgear inside was almost at the end of its natural life, prompted the decision to demolish the building and replace it with a completely new one.

In the interim, a temporary containerised type of substation will be installed on site, and the old transformers and switchgear will be replaced. The work is being undertaken by Projects Engineer Jonathan Loring who is overseeing a team of WPD fitters.

Jonathan explained: “Work has begun on the diversion of the 33kV and 11kV transformers to enable the new temporary containerised style substation to be installed. This will assist us in transferring supplies without too much interruption.

“All the electrical equipment inside must be removed before the demolition of the old building takes place.

“We’ve also placed ducting under the river that runs alongside the site and eventually our cables will be transferred into the ducting. The next step will be to remove the old existing cable bridge structure completely.”

The project is due to be completed by the end of September 2020 and so far is well on track to be completed on time and on budget. The new substation will provide network security and resilience for the foreseeable future.