Specialist NHS electrical contractor Barton Knight Contracting has installed two new generators and panels in a £3.6 million electrical resilience project for Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This was the latest phase of a wider £7.2 million generator farm to provide electrical resilience for St Peter’s Hospital in Surrey. The overall programme has spanned several years and included UPS and IPS systems as well as a temporary generator for the NICU, fitted in 2020-2021.

The most recent electrical works included the supply and installation of two T1650 – 1500kVA 400v 50Hz prime rated diesel generating sets, supplied by WB Power Services in 2023. These are designed to give electrical resilience to the theatre block, A&E, general wards, lifts, pathology, urology, and other departments. The panels were fitted in early 2024 after Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) by long-term supplier partner AF Switchgear.

As the principal contractor, Barton Knight laid a 500sqm brownfield site and completed complex civil engineering works (including diverting the main drains) in preparation for the generators. Barton Knight’s experienced onsite team laid more than 2,000 metres of HDG ladder-racking with bespoke cantilever brackets, along with multiple parallel pairs of 4 Core LSF SWA cables, connected to various hospital departments. 

In the final stage, the generators will be Site Acceptance Tested (SAT) before and after everything is connected. Working with the NHS Trust’s facilities management team, WT Partnership (the Trust’s quantity surveyor), and consultant Ridge & Partners, Barton Knight Contracting and its subcontractors WB Power Services and AF Switchgear will safely simulate a mains power failure with a controlled shut down. Once this is successfully completed the generators will be commissioned, in autumn 2024.

As a specialist electrical contractor Barton Knight Contracting is experienced in delivering complex, multi-phase projects for NHS Trusts in London and the South-East. Our clients include NHS Trusts such as Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals, Barts Health, East and North Hertfordshire, Frimley Health, Kingston Hospital, The Hillingdon Hospitals, and The Royal Marsden.

Read more case studies here, or for help with an NHS electrical project, contact our friendly, expert team on hello@bartonknight.co.uk.