Design & manufacture of 132kV high-voltage cable

We were contracted to design and manufacture a 132kV HV cable to connect the Project Olympus 300MVA 132kV/33kV substation with the grid supply point (GSP) at Islington. The challenge was to find an engineering solution capable of carrying the high voltage load within the constraints of a highly urbanised area of central London.

We completed a technical feasibility review. The outcome identified a standard design would have required multiple aluminium cables installed in a wide trench along the entire 13km cable route. Our value engineered design specified a non-standard 1600mm² copper cable. Our cost benefit analysis showed additional costs for copper compared to aluminium offset the single circuit in a narrower trench.

We sought a derogation agreement from UKPN for our non-standard 1600mm² copper cable. We also applied the standard practice of trackers on the cable drums and onsite security to mitigate copper cable theft.

We appointed Demirer Kablo in Turkey as the approved supplier to manufacture the cables and audited the factory for compliance before manufacture began. We witnessed the first factory acceptance test (FAT) with an independent assurance auditor and UKPN; we returned to attend subsequent FATs with the external auditor.

We managed our specialist supply chain partners to batch deliver the HV copper cable drums from Turkey to the Project Olympus London site, organising transport, marine warranty surveys and customs clearance.