Ballylumford Power Station

Overview

Ballylumford power station is a natural gas-fired power station in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, owned and operated by AES Ballylumford Limited. With its main plant generating 600 megawatts of electricity, it is Northern Ireland’s largest power station and provides half of the country’s power. Overall the station produces 1316 megawatts and is located at the tip of the Islandmagee peninsula, which separates Larne Lough from the Irish Sea.

In preparation for a major machine overhaul in the summer of 2010, AES Ballylumford Limited identified that 400V, 230V, 110V and 24V supplies would all be required at different stages of the outage. It was further identified that providing this array of voltages through the provision of portable transformers and distribution assemblies had the potential for creating Logistical and Health & Safety risks and the decision was made to install purpose built, multi-voltage socket assemblies in strategic locations around the worksite. It was also identified that the assemblies should remain in-situ after the outage, to provide a permanent source of power for both planned and unplanned maintenance.

Power Cluster Specification

Following discussions with Blakley Electrics, a range of Power Clusters was designed to meet the short term and long term requirements of the site. Due to the exposed location, the permanent nature of the installation and specific user requirements, all enclosures were purpose designed and fabricated from 2.5mm thickness grade 316L stainless steel, providing protection to IP66. The enclosures were painted Poppy Red to make them easily identifiable to the contractors on site. The assemblies also incorporated thermostatically controlled heaters, to protect the switchgear from condensation and low temperatures.