Aquind have held their first series of consultation on their proposed Interconnector and they advise that a total of 239 people visited and gave their views which were overall very supportive of the project.
Of the 12,942 residents of Horndean (2011 census) the attendance was not very large, especially as the 239 is across all three venues for the project from the coast to Lovedean.
For those who could not make the consultation click HERE to view the Aquind consultation boards that were presented.
Below are some of the extracts that are relevant to our community and I have also added in a poll for the same questions Aquind asked that affect us locally to see if we can get the same results.
The visitors were also invited to leave feedback on the presentation and one Lovdean resident is quoted below:
Why Lovedean?
Lovedean substation in Hampshire was identified as the optimal connection location for AQUIND Interconnector following an assessment by National Grid who have an obligation to develop and maintain an efficient, coordinated and economical electricity transmission network. The assessment considers factors such as National Grid’s knowledge of the existing network (including agreed future connections), agreed cost information, environmental considerations and other constraints associated with the project, alongside input from AQUIND on the details of the assets to be connected.
The converter station needs to be located as close as possible to the substation, in order to minimise the length of AC cable used as part of the interconnector. This is because AC cables take up a wider corridor of land when compared to DC cables. Therefore, in order to reduce impact on land, it is favourable to maximise the use of DC cables, which take up a considerably narrower corridor compared to AC cables. AC cables also have higher transmission losses and pose other technical challenges, meaning that a longer AC cable would partly offset and reduce the benefits of the interconnector.
The consultation boards on the converter station show a possible design. Remember, this is up to 22m tall and covering 6 to 9 Hectares of land.
Once the poll has run for a while I will update it with the results.
horndeanmatters 
We would be up in arms if this was not completed and in a few years we had frequent power cuts do insufficient generating capacity. The proposed structure is less visible than the many overhead power lines visible from my home.
Hi Harry, Yes, it is essential to have infrastructure like this coming into the UK to ensure continuity of power supply. There are also limited entry points to the grid to enable connection so the geographic constraint of a site like Lovedean sub station is also likely to be a key criteria. We need to test though the ability to locate the converter station in an area where there is already brownfield land, or less environmental impact with a longer length of cable between the converter station and the grid. If it does get sited locally then mitigation like a green roof, noise attenuation and screening are important. Ultimately there isn’t yet any application to consider. Personally id rather have the capability to generate 4Mw of electricity in the UK with UK owned and backed infrastructure with the monies charged staying in the UK than being handed overseas. We need to get our energy strategy in place. Best wishes, Guy.
I live in Lovedean and know of no one who is supportive of the Aqujnd proposal in any way! Where do these comments come from other than the minds of Aquind’s marketing team!
Hi Dave, The claimed level of support for a project of this nature doesn’t surprise me as the opinion is based on all areas consulted. The opinion of residents 10 miles away on the design of the converter station will be very different to local residents so a breakdown of Aquinds figures for people in the local community, or from the Lovedean consultation, would be more useful. This blog will target a more local area and at the moment the results it is generating do not suggest we are replicating Aquinds claimed levels of support.
I have no problem with this, although I would be interested to know the start and end dates of any heavy construction, purely to know if there’s going to be any road closures or possibilities of repairs afterwards. I couldn’t see it on a skim read through the consultation boards.
Side tip: I recommend investigating different polling software. I was able to vote twice in the first poll. I confirmed that the number of votes increased accurately, and I suspect it would be trivial to do so multiple times.
Hi Dave, the earliest an application would be in and considered is the end of this year. Depending on how quickly they mobilise it could be as soon as 12 months time if it were to be approved.
They advised that they would do a 1km stretch then go somewhere else for a while before returning.
I’d expect about two years of works in all but we don’t have that detail yet.
The poll is cookie based so once a device has been used to vote the poll won’t accept a second vote from that device for a week. If someone wants to cast a few votes they will find a way if they want to go to that effort. The poll here is currently indicating two things – low interest due to the small number of voters compared to other issues and that there is slightly less support than Aquind claim – but not much.
Guy
We live in Frogmore Lane and would like to know exactly the route the works traffic carrying all the equipment etc. Our road is already extremely busy and has become a ratrun from the motorway through to Lovedean Lane and beyond and for the schools either end. I’ve also tried to find a map showing exactly where this ‘infrastructure’ will be.
Hi Anne
There is an earlier blog on the 1st March with a map showing the cable routes. It’s not the best of naps but shows there will be significant disruption to local roads.
Guy.