Regional Power
The Client: Victorian Rural Health Care
Aged care residential facilities in regional areas receive complete turnkey standby power tailored to their needs; designed, installed, serviced, maintained and monitored remotely by the Cat Network.
The Background
As part of the Victoria State Government’s $750 million Powerline Bushfire Safety Program, $40 million was allocated to the Local Infrastructure Assistance Fund (LIAF) for back-up diesel generators in residential care facilities across regional and rural Victoria. These facilities service aged care, supported residential services, disability, mental health, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
The Requirement
A complete turnkey dependable standby power system tailored to each site’s specific criteria was devised. The solution addressed the need to minimise the impact of power outages arising from changes made to the electricity network on days of high risk. This is particularly important for facilities reliant on critical power for their health and wellbeing services.
Core to EPSA’s offering was customer access to the extensive Cat® parts and service network throughout Victoria, serviced by William Adams our Cat® dealer partner. EPSA’s immediately-available stock, our coverage and industry-leading warranty were key criteria in the selection process, given the short lead times required for the installations.
The Solution
In 2017 the LIAF rolled out Round Six of the program. EPSA was engaged to supply 50 standby power system packages incorporating a silenced diesel generator, automatic transfer panel and site commissioning, all with extremely short lead times. Across the four year program, EPSA has supplied close to 225 diesel generator packages into various care services throughout the state; from small power systems in single phase to support a suburban residential site, through to rural base hospitals where the dependability of a standby power system is critical and much larger.
The array of equipment selected was diverse, with models selected between 16kVA through to the largest in this round, a Cat® C18 660kVA to support the various larger facilities. EPSA teamed with local electrical contractors to undertake the installations: site clearing, concrete plinth pours, fencing, cabling, power cutovers, switchboard upgrades and replacements all needed to be factored in around the client operational facilities with the least amount of disruption.
The locations varied from Victoria’s Wimmera district, Central Gippsland, and northern regions, right through to Melbourne’s suburban fringe. For the fourth year in a row, EPSA met all the supply and delivery deadlines. Site commissioning, warranty activation and personnel training completed the scope of works before customer handover. To support the product in the installation, ongoing maintenance was managed through Customer Service Agreements with William Adams.
The Results
EPSA was engaged to supply leading Cat® product into installations where dependable power is critical. With the project now complete after six rounds of funding, the results are impressive. Across the four years of the program, EPSA has supplied close to 225 diesel generator packages into various care services throughout the state. Each installation had unique criteria, with no two sites being the same. There were challenges around delivery and placement to ensure minimal resident and neighborhood disruption. Noise levels at boundary fences, cabling distances, and access for fueling contractors were all challenges to overcome.
Some of the larger sites required remote monitoring of connected assets to provide visibility on key functions of the generating sets and automatic transfer panels. “It was a true team effort, from our engine delivery workshop, our CDC team and site technicians, through to our administration and finance personnel,” states EPSA’s Retail Segment Manager, Jason Martin.
“There was a lot to deliver in a very short timeframe. Everybody stepped up to make this happen within the required deadlines.”