When businesses are looking to install newer greener technology within their business, they often ask about what solutions are available? The answer to that question often requires new electrically powered equipment, whether that is from new electric vehicle charges – from electric cars to HGV (this can vary from small 4kw chargers to larger 300kw fast charge units) or larger electrical supplies to power electric heat pumps or air conditioning units for example. All solutions have specific power requirements to be a viable option, tailored to each premises.
Unfortunately, an increased demand for electricity on a site cannot always be supported by the current power infrastructure currently available on site. So, what is the solution?
When requiring an upgrade to your available electricity capacity the first point of discussion is to contact the local district network operator or the DNO for short. The DNO’s are companies that are responsible for managing and maintaining the distribution network for electricity within the UK.
Once your new power requirements have been understood, and a power upgrade has been agreed with the DNO, every business will need an experienced contractor to co-ordinate and deliver the upgrade. It’s important to understand that the DNO’s will only ensure a new power connection to new substation and switch. From that switch is deemed to be the responsibility of business the supply is serving. Fortunately, Hawley Building Services can coordinate with the DNO’s and take the scheme forward on behalf of the client. They will install from the new incoming supply switch and deal with all the required civils works as well as the electrical works that come hand in hand with a power upgrade.
One of the main challenges with upgrading an incoming electrical power supply is often the disruption the works can cause. Often, the new supply will impinge directly on daily operation with ground works required affecting access roads or service ways which are required for staff members or deliveries. Hawley Building Services specialise in programme management ensuring disruption is kept to the absolute minimum by ensure any works are carried outside of normal working hours. If that is not possible, they will always find an alternative short-term solution to enable the works to go ahead whilst still ensuring the customers’ operational need is not affected.
Further to the challenges that installing the mains infrastructure can bring; the biggest challenge comes when the change over from the old supply is turned off to enable the new supply to be switched on. Often this creates a real challenge as sites cannot be exposed to prolonged power outages due to their operational requirement and the lack of long-lasting battery back up to support key servers and other highly critical operational systems.
This challenge is overcome with a comprehensive understanding of the changeover installation along with long term notice to customer, to ensure they are fully aware of what the changeover phase of works will entail, and the overall length of the shut-down process. This advanced notice can help businesses plan for any critical systems to be backed up and any systems that still need to be online during the shutdown can be supported by a back generator.
Once the upgrade works have been completed, Hawley Building Services will carry out a robust testing and inspection process to ensure all systems are back online and normal operations can be resumed.
This circumspect approach has been tried and tested across all the electrical upgrades that Hawley Building Services have delivered over the years. It has delivered major infrastructure upgrades in some extremely challenging circumstances but it always considers its customers’ requirements first and foremost, before any works are even started.
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We’re here to help, so please feel free to contact us to discuss your own infrastructure upgrades
