ABB has completed the installation of a complete power infrastructure on Maidstone’s new £100 million shopping centre development, Fremlin Walk. The electrical contract covers the entire high and low voltage network including connecting to the local electricity network, installation of substations, cabling and civil engineering work associated with the project. ABB’s contract is worth around £350,000 and the company estimates this constitutes a saving of £50,000 on the alternative new connection solution.
Fremlin Walk covers an area of 32,500 square metres and when fully occupied will have 50 stores including a large, House of Fraser, department store. In addition, the centre offers extensive car parking and easy access despite its position right in the heart of Maidstone.
The new development has been built by Miller Construction Ltd, acting as main contractor for the developers, a consortium including Land Securities and Maidstone Borough Council. The development is on a site which was until recently derelict land. Construction work began in March 2003.
Speed has been an important factor, the company was on site in early January and by the end of February had installed the necessary substation, cabling and equipment to provide power for the opening of the House of Fraser.
The rest of the work, including a total of eight package substations and a total of more than 4,000 metres of cable was completed by mid May.
The electrical infrastructure with its eight package substations includes two high voltage connections to the local network, one at each end of the site. The network is designed to supply an overall load of 5.6 MvA.
ABB estimates its expertise as a new connections supplier has saved the developer more than £50,000 compared with buying the service directly from the local DNO (distribution network operator).
Tim Pope, ABB’s project manager says, “the construction timeframe and site constraints were extremely challenging. ABB completed its work in a considerably shorter time than was provided in the original programme.”
