Alyth Substation Acoustic Screen

• Acoustic

Alyth Substation Acoustic Screen

Client: Siemens
Location: Alyth Substation
Project: SCT Acoustic Screen
Value: £350k
Project Manager: Phil Bowers

Background

Alyth Substation is a 275kV substation and Reactive Compensation site. It’s part of the east coast transmission network that’s been designed to enable new generation to link to the wider British transmission system, allowing the onward supply of power to centres of demand.

As part of the upgrade to the new Alyth Substation, there is also a reactive compensation (which is equipment designed to stabilise network voltage), being constructed at this location. This new substation operates at 275kV but has been built for 400kV capability.

The site is rural in nature and there are four houses in the same area as the site. As part of SSEN’s commitment to the community, they need to be protected from the potential for low frequency noise pollution from the Static Compensation Transformer (SCT) on site.

The work

The Acoustic Screen was constructed predominantly from 316 Stainless steel and the columns from hot dipped galvanised to BS EN ISO 1461:2009. It was a large construction at over 18m x 13m with a height of six metres.

Designed for a marine environment, our aim was to maximise performance and minimise ongoing maintenance throughout its planned 25 year life. The stainless panels were powder coated using a polyester powder coating material with the noise absorbent perforated face on the inside. This allowed us to have the more decorative side to the outside.

With galvanised steel and stainless in close proximity, we protected against the risk of galvanic corrosion by using an EDPM gasket between the panels and columns, and isolating the bolts too. There was zero drilling on site to protect the integrity of the galvanisation, which meant that everything was created off site and then re-constructed on site. This also had the benefit of minimising time on site, reducing disruption and costs.

We also delivered all of the small power to the site and added a custom distribution board, all of which was contained in stainless too and to a minimum IP65, to cope with the very worst of Scottish weather.

To the rear of the enclosure, an emergency evacuation door was added as an additional safety measure. The enclosure is open at one end, so this is very much a belt and braces design and operational feature.

Project Management

The project was managed by Phil Bowers who has led on acoustic projects across the UK

“This was slightly different to others we have created in the past, as so much of the construction was completed off site. This meant more preparation and pre-finishing before we got to site.

The assembly on site was very smooth and with no drilling and pre-drilled fixings throughout, it went pretty much exactly to plan.”

Summary

This Turnkey project involved the following trades:

– Small Power & Lighting Installation
– Prefabrication of all parts of the acoustic screen
– Installation of acoustic screens and handover