ICE London Civil Engineering Awards 2013
Bankside Substation Modernisation
Civil & Building Services Engineer, Contract Administrator, Quantity Surveyor and CDM Coordinator: Arup
Client: UK Power Networks
Principal Contractor, Switchgear Design, Supply & Install: Alstom Grid
Civil Engineering Contractor: Skanska
Architect: Denton Corker Marshall
All images © Arup
Arup’s work on the refurbishment and replant of Bankside electrical substation has enabled one of London’s largest substations to be more efficient, reduce its carbon emissions and provided zero-carbon heating to Tate Modern. This was the first project to provide reclaimed waste heat to a customer at a major UK substation. To deliver the project, Arup brought in a full design team, increasing the pace of delivery and providing the client with a single point of contact. Teams from Arup, Alstom Grid and UK Power Networks worked collaboratively to meet the tight deadlines set by the London Development Agency. This project was a major undertaking: Bankside substation supplies electricity to large areas of the City and Southwark. With continuity of supply crucial, the redevelopment was phased to avoid disturbing existing operational areas until these could be made redundant. In operational parts of the building, only limited investigative works were possible, therefore the design was flexible and adapted on site.
The heat produced by the transformers in the substation, a natural consequence of changing the voltage of the electricity, had been previously wasted. With such a large substation in an area with a strong demand for heat, it made environmental and financial sense to reclaim the heat from the new, more efficient water-cooled transformers, and to use this within Tate Modern’s new extension. Our solution ensured that the Tate Modern extension exceeds the planning requirements for 10% of a new building’s energy needs to be met by on-site renewable technologies. This innovation will generate enough heat for the entire extension, saving circa £5 million over the building’s life. In 2012, Tate Modern’s new heating network was connected to the transformers’ water-cooling systems to use the reclaimed heat. Although the principle behind recovering waste heat is simple, it takes a complex control system to reclaim maximum heat while keeping the transformers cool. Arup’s mechanical engineers and specialist controls-and-commissioning engineers worked closely with UK Power Networks and Wilson Transformers to find the best solution for the site.
The tightly constrained site meant that civil and structural works were required to provide new and upgraded spaces within the building before the major electrical works could begin. Even though the project involved adding three new floors and increasing the load on others, Arup’s ground investigations and geotechnical analyses allowed 80% of the existing foundations to be reused without strengthening and, crucially, avoided any works to the perimeter foundations shared with Tate Modern. Space was limited within the substation; designs had to therefore maximise use of this space. The refurbishment has consolidated UK Power Networks’ equipment into half of the original building, and realised existing space to add future capacity. Detailed analysis of vibrational responses showed that sensitive gas-insulated switchgear, designed to be installed on a solid concrete plinth on the ground, could be installed on the existing flexible steel framed fifth floor of the substation. This allowed more efficient use of the space available, whilst keeping costs down by avoiding extensive stiffening works.
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