owdwife Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 I am thinking more and more that a generator might be a good investment!We invested in a generator a few years ago when power cuts were more prevalent. We also invested in an indoor switch which means we dont have to go outside on a horrible night. Well worth the additional cost especially as old age is rushing upon us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Yes the Hydro have chartered a Helicopter with 2 engineers on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakon J Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 It's a lovely day today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 ^^Compared to recent days, it is idyllic in comparison. I was actually able to stand up outdoors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groilick Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Staand by fur anidder blast fae da nor-wast trow da early oors o Fursday Selkie oil an wiiks aa ready fur da Koli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveh Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 ^^Whatever you just said, I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 It can be a very expensive project to bury cables, 10 times the cost or more of overheads. There are the many obstacles the trench would have to negotiate that overheads would not be trouble by. As well as rendering parts of the land unusable. The other alternative is to follow the road infrastructure, that would also increase instillation of underground cables and therefore increasing costs. I recon Shetland is stuck with overheads. I've said it on some thread on here not long ago, and I'll say it again. If the Water Board could "afford" to lay a (totally un-necessary??) main from teh Sandy Loch to the Ness a few years ago, the Hydro have no excuse to put mainlines at least, underground. *If* the Hydro had been on the ball and talking to the Water Board at that time, they could have laid a mainline south very cheaply, sharing the Water Board's trench. Underground is far more cost effective in saved man hours for repairs, outages in the town are virtually zero elsewhere its ongoing forever. The Hydro are just too cheap to commit the additional initial cost of underground, better for them to continously pay wages etc for repair crews, and screw their customers to cover it. No land was made unusable by the Water Board, so I can't imagine why it would by the Hydro. From what I've seen the Hydro have to blast as much to put in their poles as teh Water Board have to for their pipes, so it would seem pretty my six of one and half a dozen of the other on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakon J Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Another well reasoned contribution, Ghostwriter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Water pipes are a little less dangerous than 11kv cables, though I probably think that you may not be able to build on it. Or even do any form of other works without a permit from the Water Company. From that, you say, then the cables would need to be buried away from the depths required for ploughing and fencing. Over the years, as the peat moves and breaths it may put pressure on the cable, or anything else buried in it. This can only increase the cost as well. I still doubt as to you being able to develop the land it is under. I would imagine that the costs would also be bumped up by land owners. As some existing O/H routes would not be able due to bedrock and ice age detritus. It is always good to have an ideal, but as we know from the telecoms market, there was little interest from the cable companies to put in their green tubes with optical cables in Shetland.The cost to the shareholders has to be looked at as well, no matter your thoughts, they do exist. The money to invest in such a plan would probably have to be borrowed from another project or lender, would the investment really be a sound one to install a more, but not totally secure power system to a few thousand properties. The other problem that may be encountered is the carbon costs. Cable production and the installation, including disturbing the peat, may be campaign points, as well as creating underground paths for water to travel faster than it would, increasing erosion, and putting the transmission network at risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilldellin Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Underground cables are a disaster in this part of Shetland, if some of you think you are presently getting a poor service then you can standby. Difficulty locating faults following lightning can lead to far longer outages than what a simple broken overhead wire can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 @ SP: Were it not for the Hydro's drive to cover numerous peat covered hills with windfarms and all the gubbins that walks with them, I'd concede you've made a number of valid points, but as it is, I'd say the Hydro by their plans and actions have rendered most of them null and void with no help from me. You're right though about shareholders. The Board have either "sold to" or been "instructed by" those shareholders to maintain a minimum up front cost distribution network, even if it is high ongoing maintenance cost. As I said, they've chosen to take the "instant gratification" route of taking the smallest hit on capital investment themselves, and leaving it up to us poor beggars, their customers, to pay for the high maintenance/repair of their chosen investment, through loaded retail charges, so that company profits don't dip. Instead of them digging a bit deeper themselves, keeping their retail prices lower, and waiting for their profit from the accumulating savings on the maintenance/repair bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Underground cables are a disaster in this part of Shetland, if some of you think you are presently getting a poor service then you can standby. Difficulty locating faults following lightning can lead to far longer outages than what a simple broken overhead wire can. How are they laid though? I'd suspect in the "traditional" Hydro method of chuck the wire in, a shovel of sand, bit of yellow polythene, and backfill.... Yup, agreed, a total disaster to maintain and repair..... Conduit with regular manholes are needed. The piping the Water Board have laid, were it not full of water, could have served as cable conduit equally well, and they've managed manholes at regular intervals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilldellin Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 ^^ Trouble with duct and manholes, far too easy to rip out, with the price of copper now the cable would be coming out as fast as it was going in ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairyian Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hydro is a PLC with shareholders. So, subject to other regulations, the company is legally obliged to favour the shareholders. The sort of infratsructure change being suggested would need to be sanction by OFGEM, who would want to know in some detail what the costs and benefits would be. They are always scrutinising to see that the distribution company is not simply passing on costs to end users, whilst maintaing high profits for shareholders. A rather detailed document has been published by SSE that shows how much loss is made in Shetland, so one would imagine that if ther was money to be saved, they would be doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George. Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 The wind's down just now peeps, so it's time to get that lovely New Years Day dinner ready while the electricity is on - just now. The Co-op will be pleased to see us, back to re-fill our freezers that were emptied - again - because we threw out all that food that we keep frozen, in case the power goes off. The question is, what do you do with five packs of de-frosted mince when the power is off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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