Jun 6 2007
New Breamish Street substation, based on ABB’s innovative PASS MO switchgear, will provide an extra 18MVA of capacity for redevelopment projects on the north bank of the River Tyne
ABB has won a £5.4 million, two-year, turnkey contract from CE Electrics UK to design and construct the new 66/11kV Breamish Street substation on a brownfield, urban site in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The contract was awarded within ABB’s major, long-term, turnkey framework contract with CE Electrics UK for the design and construction of new and replacement substations throughout the north east of England.
The new primary substation is required by CE Electric UK to deliver an additional 18MVA of firm capacity to meet the growing demand for additional power, and need for load transfer, created by the significant urban redevelopment programmes currently taking place on the north bank of the River Tyne. The restricted space available on the enclosed site makes it ideally suited as one of the first UK projects to take advantage of ABB’s innovative PASS MO space-saving hybrid AIS (air insulated switchgear) and GIS (gas insulated switchgear) modular switchgear technology, which can save up to 70 per cent of the space normally required for a conventional AIS substation, while also reducing the need for civil works such as foundations, steelwork and cable trenching operations.
The scope of the Breamish Street project includes: the design and construction of a new substation comprising two 66/11kV 15/30MVA CER transformers, a 66kV PASS MO in/out unit and a 13 panel 11kV switchboard; the installation of a 66kV PASS MO feeder unit at Fossway, the closest CE Electric UK substation; the creation of an underground 66kV XLPE cable link between the two substations. ABB is providing a complete turnkey design, construction, installation and commissioning service, including all associated civil works and ancillaries such as protection panels, LVAC, battery charging and 11kV cabling.
Technical challenges
The project presents a particular technical challenge for ABB, since the Breamish Street site is not only compact in size, it is also hemmed in on all four sides by a hotel, a pharmacy, a residents association and the 18th century St Ann’s church. That is why ABB has proposed a solution based on its space-saving PASS MO switchgear. A further technical challenge will be the construction of the 66kV cable route between the two substations, which will have to cross the Ouseburn Bridge and a major road junction, as well as the creation of a cable transition T-joint into the existing feeder cable between Close and Fossway substations.