One of the largest private electricity connections in the UK over recent years, successfully took place last week at the Port of Liverpool, marking the end of a project which involved more than 200 people over three years.

Teams from Peel Ports and SP Energy Networks have been working together to create a new power network for the Liverpool2 container terminal development which is currently under construction.

The work has more than doubled the power capacity of the port from 20MVA (megavolt amperes to) to 50 MVA. This additional energy capacity would be enough to power over 20,000 homes or 4.5 million energy efficient domestic light bulbs.

The work included:

• Creating an 8 km 132,000 volt grid connection at Aintree
• Directional drilling (also known as micro-tunnelling) 700 metres at 27 metre depth under the Switch Island traffic junction to avoid disruption from construction activity
• Installing a new substation at Litherland, close to the Port of Liverpool

The upgrade was required as part of Peel Ports’ plan to create £300M new container terminal that will more than double Liverpool’s container capacity from 750,000 TEU to 1.5 million TEU.

There have also been extensive works at the Port of Liverpool itself, managed by Peel Ports. This has included installing a new substation, plus a 33,000 volt ring main and fibre optic cabling that both circle the whole site.

Doug Coleman, Construction Director for Liverpool2, said:

“This investment underlines the scale of our commitment to providing reliable and modern services for our current and future customers. The new energy network will supply the new container terminal as well as giving greater resilience to our whole operation at the Port of Liverpool. It’s a huge milestone for us as we continue work to create a new gateway facility that will help global shippers trade with the UK by reducing costs, carbon emissions and congestion in the supply chain.”

Stephen Stewart, SP Energy Network’s Director South, added:

“Connections such as this are very significant events in the UK’s energy infrastructure and it’s certainly one of the biggest projects of its kind. So we’re delighted that all the hard work and planning has successfully delivered the new supply to the port and credit must go to the whole team of engineers and technical staff in both organisations who have achieved this.”