Jersey Electricity : Route de St Aubin half-term closure for substation works

A section of Route de St Aubin between West Park and First Tower will be completely closed to through traffic during half-term week 10-18 February to enable ducts to be laid through which 90kV cables will eventually connect Jersey Electricity's new £17m primary substation at Westmount, known as St Helier West, to existing network cables in the promenade. Diversion signs will be in place but buses will continue to run in both directions along a special three-metre wide bus lane created along the edge of the construction site.

To facilitate the ducts' installation Geomarine, Jersey Electricity contractors, will have to excavate a five-metre-wide channel across all the lanes of Route de St Aubin. The installation marks another milestone in this important project. When put into service later this year, the substation will ease an ageing part of Jersey's network and relieve pressure to around 70-80% of St Helier residents.

Since another local contractor, Jayen Ltd, completed the complex civil works last September, the substation has quickly taken shape. French specialists contractors Engie INEO are carrying out the build, the fourth time they have worked on such a project in Jersey. The main building has been completed and work continues on the interior, with the high voltage and auxiliary equipment being installed during this spring and summer. Jersey Electricity expects to take delivery of one of two large transformers being built in Tironi, Italy, in March.

JE Project Manager Mark Vivian said: 'This is a huge project involving multi-national contractors and manufacturers. But so far everything is going to plan. The installation of the ducting is another important step and we apologise to the public for the traffic disruption. But by scheduling the ducting works at half-term, we hope to minimise this and enable the cables to be pulled through later. The next big step will be the delivery of the transformers from Italy. After that, the installation of high voltage and auxiliary equipment will continue inside.'

The substation is expected in service before this winter and landscaping around the facility is expected to be complete next year.
See the 3D video of how the substation will look when completed.