Northern Powergrid, the company the powers everyday life for 8 million people across 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, has partnered with CentraLock to trial an innovative new security system to protect its electricity network.

The new innovative technology is critical to ensuring that the right people have the proper access at the correct time; while ensuring those who shouldn’t have access are kept out. It can potentially deliver a completely new range of valuable capabilities alongside security, including:

• creating different access profiles for colleagues and contractors,
• provide the ability to disable access in real-time,
• audit access, and
• deliver real-time safety messages at sites with, for example, operational restrictions.

The trial follows a successful 'proof of concept' trial in the Castleford area which included penetration testing by an independent National Cyber Security Centre CREST approved company. The doors used in the Alpha trial were LPS 1175 SR 2, with the main CentraLock unit itself being built into an SR4 lock.

The new operational trial is split into two phases. Phase one sees ten substation sites in the Humber Estuary Region fitted with new SR4 doors equipped with the CentraLock system. Phase two sees five substations in the Teesside Region retrofit with locks to existing doors with the system fitted to doors of different manufacturers/build styles using a modular retrofit lock kit. A range of operational employees is trained to use the new door system across both phases.

Sean Middleton, Security Manager at Northern Powergrid, said: “This innovative security trial comes on the back of some four years of development. We’ve trained around 90 of our people to use the new system, which will help ensure that we allow access to only those who have the appropriate operational codes.  More importantly, help make sure that people who shouldn’t be accessing our sites or areas of our compounds are kept out and stay safe.”