Engineering services specialist Ipsum Group has won a four-year contract to replace Sheffield Forgemasters鈥� entire high voltage (HV) network assets across its 85-acre site.
The 拢40m project is part of a wider 拢1.3bn recapitalisation programme made possible by the Ministry of Defence taking over control of the steel casting and forging business last year.
Other works includes construction of a new 13,000-tonne forging line and a 30,000 sqm machine shop.
Upgrading the HV infrastructure will increase the supply capacity with the installation of new 33kV supplies to site from Northern Powergrid鈥檚 substation three miles away, it will also improve the resilience of the connection to the district network operator and National Grid networks.
Craig Fisher, programmes director at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: 鈥淭he upgrade of our HV infrastructure is a huge undertaking. Much of our existing HV equipment is more than 40-years old, so its replacement is essential to ensuring continued, secure production.
鈥淚psum will install more than 75,000 metres of cabling across all areas of the site, predominately underground, as well as replacing every HV asset whilst maintaining access and power supply to the Sheffield Forgemasters鈥� operations throughout the scheme.
鈥淎dditional capacity to drive new plant, including the new forging line and more than 15 large-scale machines in the new machine shop, and added security of supply through multiple feeds will protect the crucial work that we do for UK defence programmes.鈥�
Barry Grier, managing director of Ipsum Power (Private Networks), said: 鈥淭he contract to replace all the HV assets, whilst ensuring continual HV supply to its operations is significant and complex. Our teams have a very strong and successful working relationship, and we are already on-site working with the Sheffield Forgemasters recapitalisation team, led by Ipsum鈥檚 Ian Needham, to ensure smooth delivery of the project.鈥�
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