Western Power Distribution – MV electrical cables

Project: Range of 11kV and 33kV cable applications

Location: Midlands, South Wales and South West England, UK

Company: Western Power Distribution

Tratos & Western Power Distribution

Tratos has supplied 11kV and 33kV Medium Voltage (MV) cables for a wide range of applications for electricity distribution network operator Western Power Distribution. 

Tratos is contracted as part of a framework agreement to supply MV cables into Western Power to maintain their stock. 

About Western Power Distribution

Western Power Distribution (WPD) is the electricity distribution network operator for South Wales, the Midlands and the South West England. Its business serves over 7.9 million customers over a 55,500 square kilometres service area and they employ over 6,500 staff to ensure the highest quality of service.

WPD is regulated by Ofgem (the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets) and they are very proud to have been awarded the Government’s Charter Mark, now known as the Customer Service Excellence award, since 1992.

WPD believes their excellent customer service record is due to company’s ethos to ‘Get it right, first time, every time’.

This ethos is further based upon our key guiding principles:

• Take personal responsibility 
• Work with others to find a solution
• Follow the problem until the end
• Keep the customer informed
• Treat customers the way you would like to be treated

Power distribution and sustainable development

Tratos is very pleased to contribute toward achieving Goal 7 of the UN Global Goals to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 13: Climate Action, and Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Humanity faces many challenges in the field of sustainable development. Regardless of how sustainability is defined one subject that is very much underrepresented is the importance of electricity at the point of consumption. 

Electricity is the lifeblood of all modern societies, yet its continual flow is taken for granted. It is only when there is a power cut that we start to appreciate and realise how dependent our daily living standards are on the continuity of its supply. There are many things that can cause an interruption in supply, which can be either caused by humans or nature. In the UK many interruptions of the supply are localised, of a very short duration, are looked at as a minor glitch, and of bearable consequence. But when there is a widespread blackout due to a major incident, then the media and policy makers become vocal and responses are initiated to make the system more robust. 

Currently, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050, and it is estimated that by 2050 the global urban population is expected to approach 6.4 billion. This makes the robustness of the urban electricity system and the continuation of electricity supply, critical to the future resilience of cities and to the continuation of the standard of living of the population. In the developed world all electricity generation systems are centralised, with consumers accessing the system via a national grid. As the urban population grows an electrical failure will have increasing and more devastating secondary impacts on the daily lives of more and more people.