UK-based Collett & Sons has played a central role in delivering and installing six super grid transformers (SGTs) for the National Grid’s Yorkshire GREEN project – a major infrastructure upgrade that will boost Yorkshire’s high-voltage electricity network and support the flow of clean energy across the region.
Collett’s transport and installation scope included port operations as well as jacking and skidding services to deliver HD Hyundai Electric and Hyosung transformers into two substations. In total, four transformers were delivered to the new Monk Fryston substation and two at Overton substation.
The transformers ranged in weight from 195 to 218 tonnes with HD Hyundai Electric units standing at a running height of 4.97 m.
Collett carried out swept path analysis, high-load route surveys, vertical surveys and careful removal of street furniture. Local resident parking restrictions were enforced through Shipton by Beningbrough to facilitate Overton moves and police escort support was provided by West Yorkshire police for Monk Fryston and Cleveland police for Overton.
For the Monk Fryston deliveries, Collett utilised its Goldhofer 250-tonne capacity girder frame whilst its Scheuerle 350-tonne girder frame was deployed at Overton to manage the larger HD Hyundai Electric transformers.
All units were installed using jacking and skidding equipment with steel beams used to support the load where the bund interior was not load-bearing. In one case, a transformer for Monk Fryston was transhipped onto a 10-axle SPMT to navigate a part of the site that was not accessible with the girder frame.
The HD Hyundai Electric and Hyosung units destined for Monk Fryston arrived via Goole Dock while the Overton HD Hyundai Electric transformers for Overton were discharged at Teesport.
Yorkshire GREEN involves constructing two new substations (Monk Fryston and Overton); upgrading and strengthening existing overhead lines including up to 28 km of reconducted lines; installing approximately 10 km of new overhead lines; adding 1 km of underground cables; and erecting 33 new pylons. The project is part of The Great Grid Upgrade, the largest overhaul of England and Wales’s electricity transmission network in decades.
