Ipsum secures place on Electricity North West Unlooping project

Electricity North West has appointed leading engineering services provider, Ipsum, to deliver unlooping works as part of its framework in two areas of Manchester, Didsbury and Withington. 

The project includes the planning, civils programme and electrical works for the unlooping of 595 properties across the Didsbury and Withington area. Alongside this, Ipsum will be responsible for the programme and scheduling management, stakeholder and customer management, and traffic management. 

Looping refers to the electrical demand of more than one property supplied via a single service cable rather than one service cable per property. Unlooping is a process to disconnect these ‘looped’ connections and provide each property with its own cable connected to the mains supply. 

As the electrification of transport and heating are key elements of the UK’s transition to Net Zero carbon, the demand from domestic customers to install these is expected to increase significantly. Unlooping the service cables ensures that customers have the capacity to connect these technologies. 

Lee Maxwell, MD of Power at Ipsum, said: “We’re proud to be partnering with Electricity North West to facilitate the unlooping of almost 600 properties in Manchester. It marks a significant step in the UK’s transition to Net Zero, readying the public for the transition to electric vehicles and heat pumps. 

“We’ve worked with Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) on unlooping programmes before. Our inhouse expertise means we can cover the programme of works from early-stage planning and design to execution and handover.” 

The works are due to start in May. However, Ipsum and Electricity North West will host consultation sessions with affected residents in the coming weeks.