LOCATION:
This £6.7m project was to construct the portal frame building to house two rotating stabilisers and all associated civil engineering enabling works.
This was the UK’s first renewable energy project to deploy rotating stabiliser technology. Built by GE Power Conversion, the stabilisers replicate the spinning turbines of a traditional power station to improve grid stability and increase the renewable energy being delivered to the distribution network.
- Greenfield site earthworks, pile mat, and installation of 238 precast piles.
- Stabiliser foundations, cast onto bedrock within a sheet pile cofferdam, Each foundation comprising 250m³ concrete.
- Portal frame structure for the building to encapsulate the stabilizers.
- 8.5m firewall separating the building and the 132kv switch yard, requiring 1000m³ of reinforced concrete.
- 650m of 3.5m high electrified security perimeter fencing.
- 190m of 132kva cable installed from switchyard to nearby SSE substation.
- Construction of multiple structures for the 132kVa switchyard.
Challenge
A late design amendment required a site-led solution to construct the base from bedrock.
Solution
A 4.75m deep excavation, 12.2m x 7m sheet piled cofferdam structure was installed to facilitate each rotating stabiliser foundation.
The rebar and construction joints were designed to make the installation of the reinforcement and placing of concrete as safe and efficient as possible, with consideration to the required volumes of mass filled concrete to allow removal of the bracing as the structure progressed.
Outcome
We were appointed by PowerSystems UK on behalf of Statkraft, who pioneered the use of this innovative technology.
The project, the first of several to be built across the UK, was unveiled by the cabinet secretary for net zero, energy & transport in March 2022.
