Moving 11kv line to safe distance

[binky]

I am very surprised at the vegatation up that pole WPD are very good at cutting back anything like that or bits of tree for free.  Cot does sound like they have included a new transformer (about £13k ish from previous experinece). As said above I think you really need to get a surveyor out to have a proper look.

 

[Sharpend]

the 11kv overhead lines would be a give away that its not just a phone pole and to stay clear of it

Have you seen many so called tree surgeons but the brightest of the bunch,  I suspect some may see the cable and see it as a sideline money maker and try to get it to take to the scrap man. 

 

[Andy™]

id like to see them try and take it

not quite 24kv, but still...

http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/01/bodies-of-two-men-fused-together-after-being-electrocuted-by-24000-volts-7194893/

 

[Sharpend]

Their bodies were so badly burned they were fused together. Police captain Kyra Hope told The Detroit News: ‘We have two, that we know, two black males.

Is this descriptive after the event or just a race thing? 

 

[Andy™]

id expect them to be black regardless of colour before the shock

 

[Tony S]

I am very surprised at the vegatation up that pole WPD are very good at cutting back anything like that or bits of tree for free.  Cot does sound like they have included a new transformer (about £13k ish from previous experinece). As said above I think you really need to get a surveyor out to have a proper look.

That can be a problem.

We had an OH line and an effluent pipeline that skirted a SSI. Trimming back vegetation had to be done but it was a PITA! It seemed the alkaline effluent once settled and had dried out was ideal for rare orchids to grow in. The simplest of tasks grew in to a paper landslide.

 

[Kevinho]

From that, table 3.6.2 shows a clearance of 4.3 metres to any part of a building.

Sorry for absence - company made statement at 4:30 yesterday of 1000 redundancies

Thanks Tony for the link.

Dave - are the safe distances relevant when the transformer was there before the building? Building was put up ~40 years ago so may predate current regs. Can SSE say they were there first? Also if they ever want to replace the transformer can I block this on basis that it is less than 4.3 meters?

Cheers

 

[Kevinho]

Very surprised SSE have let that much green stuff grow up and around the insulators and I presume knife edge isolators.  Thought that would be picked up a dealt with on the 5 yearly line walk.

My supply is with Scot Power and I must admit they are on the ball when it comes to keeping vegetation back from their lines.  Every 5 years they come onto my place and cut the trees back.

Good luck getting this resolved, you really have to try and get the SSE surveyor out and hope he is one of the common sense ones so that you can come to a mutually acceptable agreement. It is amazing how things can change when you get a face to face on site meeting then tea and biscuits.

Thanks Roys. The poles were cleared just over 3 years back, but the ivy and clematis in the hedge grow quickly and the clematis was actually back up to the transformer the following year. Didn't fancy tugging on it to bring it back down again ray

I'd love to get SSE round for a discussion - but they won't engage and the one time they did send someone round to look they didn't tell me until afterwards

 

[Kevinho]

SSE should include a network plan with their quote which would make it all clear what feeds what, and what alterations they propose.  If you have that network plan, post it here.

It does sound odd going underground for a bit then back to overhead. That was probably to avoid the main part of the house. The outbuilding was probably built later without regard to the overhead lines that were there and the clearances you were supposed to maintain.

Does your extension have to be where the old outbuildings are?  It may well be cheaper to leave the overhead lines alone, demolish the outbuildings and build the extension on the left (west) side of your plot. But you would have to go back through planning again.

Unfortunately for a number of reasons (related to green belt and AONB) the ground where the current outbuilding is needs to be dug out and the new building constructed in the hole hard up against the hedge....it was a complete PITA getting permission to do anything with it. Ideal solution would be if we could bury the HT line across the length of the adjoining field - neighbours would love it too as the lines are a blot on an otherwise very pretty valley

 

[ProDave]

I don't see how we can help any further.  If SSE won't engage with you properly contact the ombudsman.

To do what you want it has to be moved. The cost is what is it. That may or may not make the project unviable.

There is a piece of land at the top of our road, the owner is convinced it will be a building plot, but it too has a big 11KV transformer and overhead lines running off in 2 directions. She got a quote to have them moved that came back at £50K so it is completely unviable, that is all a building plot would sell for here, effectively making the land worthless.

 

[Kevinho]

I don't see how we can help any further.  If SSE won't engage with you properly contact the ombudsman.

To do what you want it has to be moved. The cost is what is it. That may or may not make the project unviable.

There is a piece of land at the top of our road, the owner is convinced it will be a building plot, but it too has a big 11KV transformer and overhead lines running off in 2 directions. She got a quote to have them moved that came back at £50K so it is completely unviable, that is all a building plot would sell for here, effectively making the land worthless.

Thanks Dave - it may come to that. Its still worth doing at 25k,  but I resent on principle subsidising SSE for something that is also in their interest and was hoping there was some way (e.g. a responsibility for safety while repairing current roof) to force them into a discussion. I'll stick with pestering them for now - might look into whether I can get some compensation for proximity of transformer and use that to offset cost as a last resort.

Thanks for all the advice

Kev

 

[binky]

You won't get compo, after all the alternative is no electric. What you could try is telling SSE that you and your neighbours are all planning to install solar panels. The DNO cannot stop you installing a 4kW system with a backfeed of 16A, by law. If the transformer cannot handle the backfeed of several sets of panels, then they are obliged to upgrade it at no cost to yourself or your neighbours. You could possible then raise the issue of proximity to buildings...... I don't know what regs DNO work to, but I suspect that if upgrading a tranny it may have to comply with todays regs, bit like when we change a fuseboard we have to bring electrics up to date (within reason).  It may just result in a new tarnny on the existing pole, but it has to be worth a try.