The developer behind the £1 billion plus regeneration at The Island Quarter has invested nearly £10 million on a ‘super substation’ to power the development.

The Conygar Investment Company PLC has funded the construction of the new substation, which will provide for all the electrical needs for this 36-acre site, once energised this week.

Once complete, the development will feature 1,600 new homes and office/lab space for up to 6,000 people.

The new substation is part of a raft of infrastructure improvements being made on and around The Island Quarter to facilitate the development, including changes to the road junction of Great Northern Close and London Road to improve access to 1 The Island Quarter for cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

Richard Watson of The Island Quarter’s project delivery team said: “With a regeneration project of the scale of The Island Quarter, making sure that there is enough capacity in the power grid to ensure the smooth operation of the development is mission critical.

“Conygar is making this investment to ensure the longevity of the site and ensure that its power requirements are met not just now, but into the future as well. At a time when there are significant challenges in providing electricity supplies to major development sites through the UK, a site with its own live power source is a rarity – let alone one the scale of The Island Quarter.”

Having purchased the site in 2016, Conygar has overseen the opening of 1 The Island Quarter in September 2022 and the development of a 693-bed student accommodation complex, which will open its doors in 2024. The developer also recently won the Developer of the Year prize at the East Midlands Property Awards for its work in bringing the site forward.

Christopher Ware, property director at The Conygar Investment Company, said: “The completion of the new substation marks another key step in the development of The Island Quarter. While it may not have the glamour factor, our ability to get the super substation live is hugely important, especially given the challenges that projects of similar scale have had in getting enough power to their sites.

“Alongside the other improvements to the infrastructure on and surrounding The Island Quarter, this latest step is another sign of Conygar’s commitment to creating a development that is truly of Nottingham, for Nottingham.”