Access to network information

We will provide customers with access to detailed network information

As part of our commitment to facilitate fair and open competition in connections, we make our network design standards and network information available to ICPs that request it.  However, developers and consultants told us that they  too would benefit from access to this information to carry out their own preliminary feasibility studies and to validate the work  completed by ICPs.

With this in mind, we pledged to deliver two actions - to make our network information available to developers and consultants who requested it,and to provide the data in the KMZ and GIS formats compatible with the IT platforms and applications they operate.

Our network information is useful because it provides data on assets across our network - everything from a substation to an overhead line or underground cable. This information can allow ICPs to create their own designs or third parties to create their own feasibility studies with regards to securing a connection to our network.  

The new process we have implemented means that our connections customers can now contact us directly to request our data and within 10-working  days we will reply to clarify and confirm their specific requirements. Then, using a bespoke feature manipulation engine (FME) tool, we will extract the data from our system and make it available to the customer.

The FME tool also allows us to supply data in a range of different formats including KMZ, GIS and others, depending on the IT specifications and requirements of the customer. This data is made available via a secure portal and accessed using a unique login and password that allows customers to download the information directly to their systems.       

Any Northern Powergrid customers wanting to request network information should email records.information@northernpowergrid.com clearly stating their requirements. We will respond within 10-working days, in line with our new process.