I met with members of the IFA2 and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) teams to discuss the progress of IFA2 and Chilling Lane substation.
I visited the substation site where the National Grid teams provided an update on both the substation and the cable works. The site is currently used to connect the electricity cables that run under Southampton Water to the existing pylons that run north-south to the substation near Lovedean.
The National Grid will be installing new equipment at Chilling so the power from IFA2 can be fed into the national grid, with the upgrades taking place within the existing boundaries of the site.
It was very useful to visit and I am very thankful to the teams for showing me around.
I am aware that some residents in Hook village are concerned about the impact of construction vehicles on Hook Lane. Many options have been explored, but Hook Lane remains the best route for construction vehicles when assessed against the environmental, cost, time and stability of the land criteria. A traffic management plan has been set out to ensure that traffic is limited to the absolute minimum necessary.
The interconnector, IFA2 is a significant project for the UK and will help support our energy demands. It needs to be completed in 2019, so I am pleased to see progress.
I also discussed community relations work related to the project, and the community grant fund programme that National Grid offers for organisations, community groups, and local charities in the vicinity of projects. Details can be found here: www.betl.nationalgrid.co.uk