A DISTRIBUTION company is set to invest £16m to help with Hampshire’s green economic recovery.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution has announced that it will invest £41 million in its electricity networks to support a green economic recovery and accelerate key low-carbon projects across the north of Scotland and central southern England.

As part of these funds, £16m will be invested across three sites in Hampshire to , create capacity for decarbonisation ambitions and to support the delivery of electric vehicle charging infrastructure which is said to be “critical” for the transition to net zero.

The scheme, which will unlock over 122MW of additional capacity, is a result of close collaboration with Ofgem and other electricity network operators SSEN says.

In Hampshire, over £9.6m will be invested in Rownhams to create 30MW of extra capacity, supporting the delivery of EV charge hubs in a key strategic area for the UK’s EV charging network.

In North Baddesley, £3.6m of investment is set to reinforce over 4km of overhead line and 100 metres of underground cable to support the village’s net zero ambitions.

And in Bishops Waltham, over 5.5MW of additional capacity will be created to prepare the network for households and businesses shifting to low-carbon technologies.

The £2.9m works will reinforce over 5km of overhead line and 1km of underground cable.

Chris Burchell, Managing Director, SSEN Distribution, said: “We are determined to play our full part in addressing the twin challenges of the economic and social recovery from coronavirus and the impending climate emergency.

“With COP26 on the horizon, today’s investment demonstrates how collaborative action and regulatory flexibility can help us achieve this aim and power change for our customers and society.

“The green recovery scheme provides a blueprint for future agile investment in our networks in the coming years, where rapid progress will be required to keep pace with net zero.”

As part of the scheme, SSEN will also install approximately 1,000 low voltage monitors at key points across its distribution network area.

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