An NHS Trust hospital in Luton was upgrading its standby generator arrangement to add redundant capacity, and the existing 11kV cable between the main intake and the generator hall needed replacing with a larger conductor on the same route.
Critical infrastructure work — outage windows were narrow, planned weeks in advance, and the cable had to be live and tested before each window closed.
What the job involved
- 180m of new 11kV cable pulled through the existing duct route.
- Two straight joints at midpoint pit and termination chamber.
- Indoor terminations into both the main intake switchgear and the generator hall MV panel.
- VLF testing and full handover to the Trust's authorised engineer same shift.
- Old cable safely cut and abandoned per Trust procedure.
Key challenges
- Outage window of just 6 hours per visit — three visits planned and executed to programme.
- Hospital footfall around the cable route required full safety screening at all times.
- Standby gen had to remain available throughout — sequencing planned with Trust engineering.
Outcome
- All three outage windows met with no overrun.
- Backup-power capability online and commissioned ahead of winter peak demand.
- Trust extended our framework agreement for further estate works.
On a live hospital, the contractor either understands the stakes or they don't. These do. We'll be using them again.
— Estates Engineering Manager, Luton, Bedfordshire
Need something similar?
If you're planning a cable pulling job across North London or the Home Counties — talk to us about scope, sequencing and a price. We work directly with DNOs, ICPs, main contractors and developers.