Business-Wide Medium-Voltage Electrical Upgrade Across Six Live Sites

G&W Contracts were engaged to project manage and execute the critical upgrade of the electrical infrastructure from 10KV to 20KV across six separate sites within a single business park for a key client, in close coordination with ESB Networks. The primary challenge was that all sites shared a single electrical ring main, necessitating a complete, business-wide power shutdown and requiring the entire upgrade to be executed within a single, tightly constrained timeframe without disrupting client operations - a significant business risk.

To mitigate this risk, G&W Contracts strategically scheduled the main upgrade works over a Bank Holiday weekend, providing a critical extra day for contingencies. The planning phase was a multi-month endeavour, centred on a proactive risk-reduction strategy. This involved conducting coordinated pre-shutdowns at each site over six preceding weekends to validate the integrity of their backup power systems. A comprehensive list of issues identified during these tests was compiled and systematically rectified, with additional re-testing performed where necessary to guarantee a seamless changeover during the main event.

During the core upgrade weekend, a mobile contingency plan was in place, featuring two temporary generators on standby to move between sites. The execution was methodical: each site was individually upgraded, and every system within it was rigorously validated upon power restoration before the team progressed to the next. This logistically immense operation, coordinating over thirty separate contractors, was delivered flawlessly. The highly complex, business-critical power upgrade was completed successfully with zero impact on the client's operations.