HOTEL COMPLEX POWER UPGRADE

THE PROJECT

One of the UK’s world-renowned leading golfing, conference and hotel complexes recently undertook a major upgrade in their electrical infrastructure, part of which included the provision of all new switchgear and the introduction of a CHP system and associated controls package.

The requirement of the WB Hire Team was to supply and install all the equipment necessary to seamlessly transfer the entire load of the hotel complex from mains to the temporary generating sets, run the entire complex of generators for five days then seamlessly transfer the load back on to the new system.

Priorities were to ensure the entire complex always had full power available with no blips of supply or downtime and, of course, to do it with the utmost safety of all concerned.

WHAT DID IT TAKE?

It took a team of highly trained and experienced engineers to assess the project requirements, plan and execute the project providing the end client with full confidence in the equipment and support team combined with a single point of contact should any concerns arise.

Once the initial enquiry was received, WB sent one of its field assessment team to look at all aspects of the client’s brief.

This included where equipment could be located, the expected project roll out period, scope of installation, load connection point, commissioning, post project works, and of course, all aspects of safe working on site for the project teams and of staff and visitors to the hotel.

The next stage was to assess the likely load that the generating set package was required to supply. As with any business the loading requirements of the hotel complex do vary significantly over any 24-hour period. For example, light load over night with peaks of load first thing in the morning and late afternoon / early evening when guests arrive. There are of course other smaller peaks, for example at lunchtime when food is being prepared. To understand the type and nature of the building load, WB supplied and installed a power monitoring system for a typical two weeks in the life of the hotel to assess what the power requirements were. Armed with this information, WB were then able to progress with a full proposal to the client.

THE EQUIPMENT

With the total load assessed not to exceed 800kW and imperative that supply should not be lost at any cost, the WB Hire Team chose to utilise 3 of the fleets, including Kohler R550C5 Stage V low emissions generating sets, housed in factory built, close fit enclosures running on an unlimited hours package. The generating set controls were designed so that the three sets could run in parallel N+1 configuration with each other and synchronised as a group with the mains supply for that all important no break transfer when required.

To facilitate synchronisation of the three sets as one “power” group with the mains, WB utilised a 2500A synchronising panel and control system. This panel provided connection for the three sets and a mains supply connection point too.

To complete the package each generating set was accompanied by its own 3,000l bulk tank which topped up the set base tank on demand, all of the necessary interconnecting cables, cable protection equipment as required and acoustic fencing which also provided security to the designated generator compound.

DEPLOYMENT THE TEAM

They say it is all in the planning and it certainly is! Our dedicated project managers worked with the client to ensure that every detail had been covered and addressed prior to deploying the Site Implementation Team.

A key element of the WB business is our in-house Logistics Group. With over 20 HGV vehicles of all types from 40ft trucks
to specialist heavy lift units, we were comfortably able to transport equipment to site, off load at the location identified by the
client and which suited their own operational needs.

Once off loaded, cabled and fully tested, we were ready to undertake the synchronous no break transfer of the entire hotel complex
load on the generating set supply. On the day, and at the agreed time, our highly trained synchronising engineer seamlessly
synchronised the three generators onto the hotels LV transformer supply, after which the team from the local DNO were able to
complete their isolation of the hotel ready for installation works to begin.

In the five days that followed, WB provided all necessary staff to “baby sit” the system, regularly monitoring all aspects of the
installation to ensure optimum reliability and continuity of supply to the hospital. A key part of the monitoring process was to ensure that the generating sets had a plentiful supply of fuel. Refueling of the site was undertaken by our own team.

At the end of the site works, our team were again on hand to synchronise the sets to the mains allowing the hotel to return seamlessly to full mains supply and its newly installed CHP system. On completion of the project, the WB engineers quietly removed all the equipment and left the site as they had found it. Other than the visual impact of the equipment, none of the hotels high profile guests would have been aware of the major modification to the hotels power supply.

OUR UNIQUE APPROACH

The WB unique end to end approach to projects of this type sets our hire team apart from others. From the very first client contact, to ensuring we understand all of the client’s specific operational needs, meticulous planning, having the right high quality equipment, project engineers, our own logistics and specialist site engineers all highly trained and all directly employed by WB. A one stop generator hire solutions company.