Engineers from Dale Power Solutions plc of Yorkshire worked, sometimes through the night for a month at Nationwide Building Society's Swindon Technology Centre to replace the generator control system without disrupting the site's around-the-clock activities.

The Technology Centre was built approximately 15 years ago and had a diesel HV generator back-up system installed.

Fast forward, and it was time to replace the generator control system. But there were two problems. There is no off-the-shelf control system suitable for this application, and replacing the original meant taking the on-site generators out of service for up to a month leaving the centre without standby power.

Nationwide's consulting engineer, Andy Pearson of the J D Partnership in Reading, prepared the project brief and specification, and via a tender process appointed Dale Power Solutions to carry out the upgrade.

Power on wheels

David Bartram commented: “Our greatest concern was that there should be no loss of power, even for a millisecond – everything must keep running at the centre.”

Dale's solution was to deliver three 1000kVA mobile generators on articulated lorries, complete with their own fuel and control system.

By then, Dale's own production facility at their Filey headquarters had built a new programmable logic controller for the centre. This provides state-of-the-art functionality and additional features such as sharp, real-time graphics for easier use, and the potential for remote monitoring.

Changes to schedule

Chris Maskill, Contracts Manager with Dale, explained how the control system was installed: “Due to the time constraints at the Technology Centre, installing and commissioning the system posed additional challenges requiring innovative engineering solutions.”

Training of NBS engineering maintenance staff in the operation of the new system took place prior to completion. The building society has since taken out a five-year maintenance package that guarantees the control panel for this period and supports the maintenance team with a four-hour, 24/7 call out service.

Good working partner

Andy Pearson's confidence in Dale's abilities was justified. “I was impressed with Dale's response and conscientious attention to detail. They are very keen to make sure everything is done well and fully completed.”

Project manager David Bartram was the interface between the generator team and his client, and found Dale agreeable to work with.

But for Chris Maskill, demanding contracts such as this are becoming “business as usual”.

“The Swindon Technology Centre project is the latest in a number of assignments we have carried out for the finance sector. “We now see projects for high-profile, 24-hour working organisations as part of our mainstream work,” he said.

The installation on this contract worth £250,000 was completed within four weeks