Ocean Terminal: Delivering a Complex High Voltage Substation Relocation

Major redevelopment projects often depend on significant infrastructure changes behind the scenes. At Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh, our High Voltage team played a critical role in enabling part of the shopping centre's transformation by relocating two HV substations and reconfiguring the electrical network to support a new site layout.

Keeping a Live Environment Powered

Relocating high voltage infrastructure within an operational shopping centre presents unique challenges. Power systems must remain safe, reliable and fully operational throughout the works, with minimal disruption to businesses, visitors and day-to-day operations.

To achieve this, we first carried out a detailed survey of the existing electrical network supplying the two substations. This provided a complete understanding of the system and informed every stage of the relocation strategy.

Specialist High Voltage Design and Planning

A project of this nature requires far more than simply moving equipment from one location to another. The team was responsible for designing and detailing every aspect of the new substation infrastructure, including:

• New substation bases and housing
• Cable routes and penetrations
• Containment systems
• Integration with the existing electrical network

Careful engineering and planning ensured the new installation would meet operational requirements while supporting the future development of the site.

Managing Complex HV Changeovers

One of the most technically demanding aspects of the project was transferring supplies from the existing substations to the new location while maintaining continuity of service.

To minimise outages and disruption, our team developed a detailed changeover strategy that allowed existing switchgear to remain in service while temporary switchgear was deployed during the transition. This approach reduced operational impact on the shopping centre and enabled a safe, controlled migration of the electrical network.

The Skills Behind the Solution

The successful substation relocation required a broad range of specialist high voltage expertise. From the outset, our team undertook detailed HV network surveys and assessments to fully understand the existing infrastructure and identify the most effective approach for relocation works. This informed the design and engineering of the new substation, including all associated housing, containment and cable routing requirements.

A carefully planned temporary power solution was then developed, incorporating temporary switchgear to maintain continuity of supply while the changeover from the existing substations was completed. Working within a live shopping centre environment demanded meticulous planning, robust risk and outage management, and close coordination with stakeholders to minimise disruption to businesses and the public.

The project demonstrates the value of experienced HV engineers who can successfully balance technical complexity, safety requirements and operational continuity while delivering infrastructure that supports future development.