cipn Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Greetings I have a pole carrying overhead cables in my garden which I wish to re-route underground for a variety of reasons. UKPN has quoted an inordinate amount of money which does not even include the digging and conduits. I understand that there is a perspective in which they will pay for everything including the ducting. I bought this house 18 months ago and the wayleave they had regarding the pole has now expired. Does anyone have experience of getting UKPN to do this at their expense? Many thanks Claudia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epsilonGreedy Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Do you know the voltage carried in this overhead cable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the builder 2 Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 Hi Yes its very expensive and unless you have lots of time to wait out the wayleave process then that cost will be yours to pay. this is a very good thread with the best guidance i have found. https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/10951-overhead-cables-movingburying/ good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipn Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 Thank you for your reply. I understand it is 11kv overhead power line. There is no current wayleave in place as it expired when I bought the property last year. UKPN have quoted £40K plus VAT and that does not cover the digging and placing of the duct. Seems to be outrageous .... I heard that there is a way to get UKPN to pay for the whole lot. Any idea what that may be? Thanks again for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Get an approved contractor to do the work, I had a contractor do some 11kV work for me at work and Scottish Power witnessed the dig, cable jointing and testing and then they carried out the point of connection and then adopted the cabling/works to a certain point. Ask UKPN for a list of contractors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipn Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 thank you TonyT. The quote UKPN gave me is from an approved contractor. I am looking for ways to get UKPN themselves to pay for the work. Apparently that is possible but I want to know what the conditions are for that to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recoveringbuilder Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 21 hours ago, cipn said: thank you TonyT. The quote UKPN gave me is from an approved contractor. I am looking for ways to get UKPN themselves to pay for the work. Apparently that is possible but I want to know what the conditions are for that to happen. I recently had to have power cables undergrounded on a plot I was selling as the prospective buyer wanted them removed. The land had been owned by us for nearly 30 years. I asked SP energy to let me see the wayleave but of course they didn’t have one. I then gave them notice to remove. They then agreed to underground them at their expense. It wasn’t all quite as easy as first thought as they had to get permission from various other landowners to access other parts of the line and there was a lot of toing and froing but eventually it was all agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipn Posted January 4, 2022 Author Share Posted January 4, 2022 Thank you so much, that is very hope and helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the builder 2 Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 If you have a 'new supply' installed at the same time as the overhead removal / burial the whole lot is zero rated for VAT and often the quote time is shorter !! But an 11kv will still cost you c £40k (before you dig the holes) and very few will do the contestable works if any. deep breath and carry on bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 10 minutes ago, bob the builder 2 said: If you have a 'new supply' installed at the same time as the overhead removal / burial the whole lot is zero rated for VAT and often the quote time is shorter !! But an 11kv will still cost you c £40k (before you dig the holes) and very few will do the contestable works if any. A self builder here paid £11K to have two 11KV 3 phase spans undergrounded and the new supply to his new build including supply and fit of a pole mounted transformer. That was about 8 years ago so I would not expect it to be nearly 4 times as much now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the builder 2 Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 I suspect the new rules are behind the cost increase 1) You cannot reuse existing transformers = new one c10K for 11kv 2) HV shut down 5K (11kv is HV) 3) New pole (as will not move old ones) 3k for a single, 5.5k for an 'H' pole. 4) Legal for all parties (depends how many TP's involved ) So that's c20k - 30k before the contestable works, carding for the shutdown and the actual cables and man hours and the trenching and jointing holes As before if you can wait for the wayleaves to be cancelled and the works done for a % of the above go that route - if you are actually planning to build in the next 36months its time to pay up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieled Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Just now, bob the builder 2 said: I suspect the new rules are behind the cost increase 1) You cannot reuse existing transformers = new one c10K for 11kv Those numbers seem high. Last year we had a 33kv transformer put in. I cannot remember the exact cost on the quote, but it was sub 5k. Shut down and pole costs quoted above are 3-5 times what SSE quoted. All DNOs are under the same regulator, so even with a different DNO the costs should be similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenki Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 I've just had a preliminary quote, (Highlands), where the existing transformer will have to be upgraded to 50KVA, I have to pay for the percentage I use or ask for so 15KVA supply I pay 30% of the cost of the transformer. From the quote: Works Required: Shutdown the network for safe working. Upgrade the existing transformer to 50kVA to take the new load of supply. Pole Termination and lay 10m of 3c185mm wavecon mains cable to a pot end. Re-connect the existing 3 x customers onto the new mains cable. Straight joint at the base of the pole and lay new mains cable to a pot end. Service joint and then lay new single phase service cable to the new 100 amp cut out position. £3,500 - £3750 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipn Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 19 hours ago, bob the builder 2 said: I suspect the new rules are behind the cost increase 1) You cannot reuse existing transformers = new one c10K for 11kv 2) HV shut down 5K (11kv is HV) 3) New pole (as will not move old ones) 3k for a single, 5.5k for an 'H' pole. 4) Legal for all parties (depends how many TP's involved ) So that's c20k - 30k before the contestable works, carding for the shutdown and the actual cables and man hours and the trenching and jointing holes As before if you can wait for the wayleaves to be cancelled and the works done for a % of the above go that route - if you are actually planning to build in the next 36months its time to pay up... So is 11kv high voltage? I was told it was low voltage . No trenching to be done, that is all in place. So is 44K plus VAT really reasonable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the builder 2 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 cipn i had a similar quote from SSE who i think might also be your supplier as above its all regulated now and off a common price book it appears our fellow forum members may have been lucky with the supplier contributing to the cost or getting it done before everything went by the book only way round is to cancel the wayleave and wait it out (if you have time) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamieled Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 43 minutes ago, cipn said: So is 44K plus VAT really reasonable? It seems very high, but there may be something unusual going on. Normally you would get an itemised quote - do you have one and can you see where the higher costs are coming in? Otherwise ask SSE to justify/itemise the quote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cipn Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 This is the quote for what they called the NON-CONTESTABLE work HV Overhead Main Installation of an HV pole, associated steelwork and HV stays Removal of an HV pole, associated steelwork and HV stays Dismantle span of HV overhead line Raise and connect HV pole termination Install & remove a temporary HV safety earth Install 11kV 185mm aluminium Triplex mains cable down pole Install pole mounted HV fusegear £21,869.20 HV Underground Mains Excavate & Reinstate HV joint hole in unmade ground Excavate & Reinstate HV trench in unmade ground Install 11kV 185mm aluminium Triplex mains cable in trench Install 11kV cable to duct or cable tray Supply only of 11kV 185mm aluminium Triplex mains cable 11kV 185mm to 185mm Triplex branch joint 11kV 185mm Triplex to 95-185mm PILC straight joint £14,648.22 Miscellaneous High Voltage shutdown Notification of High Voltage shutdown to affected parties £5,389.61 Legal fees for the arrangement of an Easement in relation to UKPN assets TOTAL £41,907.03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the builder 2 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 HI There The break down and cost above are approx. the same for my 40k black hole .... In addition i have to do my own trenching and pay legal fees on top. So the question is how can this be reduced ? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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