National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) has agreed to a financial settlement with UK energy regulator Ofgem, totalling £20m ($23.25m), following failures at the Harker 132kV substation near Carlisle, Cumbria, North West England.
This settlement will be directed into Ofgem’s Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme as a result of NGET’s acceptance of lapses in monitoring, maintaining and repairing civil assets between November 2016 and November 2021.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The Harker substation is crucial for customers in the North West of England and helps connect renewable generation to the distribution network.
It also links to the 132kV transmission network in Scotland, contributing to the network infrastructure across the Anglo-Scottish border.
An investigation by Ofgem, initiated in March 2022, found that NGET did not adequately manage the condition of some civil assets at Harker.
This oversight led to delays in connecting embedded generation in the area.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataNGET has acknowledged deficiencies in monitoring and repairing these assets, which resulted in problems such as spalling concrete exposing steel reinforcements.
The company also accepted that it failed to conduct thorough inspections and risk assessments and did not adequately plan or resource necessary repairs, which impacted concurrent upgrade works essential for fulfilling a connection agreement.
These actions contravened Section 9(2) of the Electricity Act 1989 and Standard Licence Condition B7.
These stipulate that transmission licence holders must develop a coordinated transmission system, foster competition in electricity generation and supply, and ensure sufficient resources for efficient operations.
NGET stated that it has since completed repairs on the affected assets at Harker in 2022.
Market Oversight & Enforcement regulatory director Cathryn Scott said: “Delays and asset failures risk reliability issues, which ultimately impact consumers.
“This has been a complex and detailed investigation, and it was concerning that NGET failed to adequately monitor, maintain and repair some civil assets at Harker 132kV substation during the period being investigated (November 2016 to November 2021).
“It is right that NGET has accepted its failings at this substation. The Harker 132kV substation is being rebuilt and extended as part of the Harker Energy Enablement project to increase capacity between Scotland and England and prepare the network for future demand, including renewable and storage connections.
“Local investment programmes by National Grid and other networks (including 400kV and 132kV substation rebuilds) highlight Harker’s role in enabling cross-border power flows and clean energy integration.”
Earlier this month, NGET and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission finalised contracts with Hitachi Energy and NKT for the delivery of the Eastern Green Link 3 electricity transmission project in the UK.
