Playfords were engaged to carry out a generator replacement project at Nuffield House which has its own dedicated HV/LV transformer with feeder pillar that also supplies adjacent buildings within the Guy’s Hospital Campus.
The Guy’s Hospital HV Network comprises of several open rings, one of which is external to the main building and the Nuffield House transformer is part of that external HV ring. This meant that decommissioning and replacement the generator required careful planning and coordination to minimise disruption to the wider site.
In summary, Playfords carried out the following works:
- Replaced the outdated emergency standby generator set with one new 500kVA low emissions diesel generating set, complete with twin output breakers.
- Installed a new Socomec ATS changeover with external wrap around bypass to support the new modular theatres project, including all associated electrical cabling and containment.
- Hired and installed a temporary generating set to enable the decommissioning and removal of the existing emergency standby generator.
- Installed new mains cabling and containment from the existing feeder pillar to new ATS.
- Installed new generator cabling and containment from the new generator to the new ATS, including generator control and auxiliary supply cabling.
- Connected and tested the generator start signals from the existing Nuffield House switchboard to the new generator control system.
- Connected, jointed and extended, existing generator output cables to the existing Nuffield House switchboard.
- Connected and tested generator start signals from the new ATS to the new generator control system.
The project also involved structural ground works to ensure the new generator and bulk fuel storage tank would be sited securely and were stable. The site was tight and compact, the generator sets had to be craned out, which took planning and coordination with local councils to close roads and redirect traffic routes. The old generator was craned out and removed from site, the area was then excavated and made structurally sound with the installation of new reinforced concrete bases before the new generator set was craned into place.