The uninterruptible power supply installation for the control room at Pinewood Television was a major production but one which the Riello Galatrek Technical Energy Consultants (TECs) took in their stride.
The control room houses the complex sound and vision systems used in the making of popular programs like ‘My Family’ and ‘The Weakest Link’. Secure reliable power is paramount to the smooth making and transmission of these programs and the protection of the sensitive electronic equipment used.
The project was completed in two major phases over five working days - construction of a secure UPS and battery room in a difficult to access area and a full electrical installation that included provision for air conditioning, UPS isolation and new cable runs.
Ian Osborne, Head of Television commented
“Pinewood Television’s studios have a reputation for providing a smooth and enjoyable programme making process – and we are aware that nothing could make a day more stressful and disruptive to our clients than losing valuable studio time through power outage. We sought out Reillo as we wanted a reliable installation with a quick turnaround with minimum disruption to our business.”
Firstly a UPS and battery room had to be created in the space provided. The Riello Galatrek TECs designed and constructed the room using a metal stud partitioning system, complete with insulation and double skin pasterboard. From the roof two six foot twin fluorescent light fittings were hung with one installed with emergency control gear. Access was enabled through a secure 1400mm door. Inside the room Riello Galatrek supplied two air conditioning systems comprising of 8W wall mounted fan coil units. Outside floor mounted condensers were installed with two local power supplies.
The UPS chosen for the installation was a 100kVA Master Dialog UPS with a three external battery cabinets to provide a 1hour runtime at 69kW. The total weight of the battery and UPS approach 5,000kg and had to be located on site inside the newly constructed room. To get the UPS into position required a breakdown of the system into two parts – UPS cabinet (housing the electronics) and the rectifier transformer. Once in location the UPS was rebuilt and the batteries were assembled on-site into the three matching battery cabinets.
The electrical installation work formed the largest part of the installation. Firstly the existing control room had to be disconnected from its supply. The new 95mm 4core SWA cables were installed to supply the control room with uninterruptible power and provide power to the UPS itself. An external maintenance bypass for the UPS was also installed. All the work was completed to BS7671:2001 and with full NICEIC certification.
The installation was completed to time and budget. For added peace of mind Pinewood Studies chose to install their UPS with the backup of a Platinum maintenance contract with the Riello Galatrek TeleGuard remote monitoring service.
TeleGuard is a service monitoring package run by the Riello Galatrek service team. Using the software the service team can provide 24/7 monitoring of Riello UPS anywhere in the world. At preset times each UPS is dialed up by TeleGuard and interrogated to check on their status and condition. Any UPS can also call TeleGuard should they develop an alarm condition. On receiving the alarm the systems responds with a dedicated script.
The Platinum maintenance contract purchased for their UPS by Pinewood Studies guarantees them a 4 clock hour response to an emergency or alarm condition. In addition the service provides one preventative maintenance visit per year by a member of the Riello Galatrek service team. As the UPS was installed with an external maintenance bypass the preventative maintenance can be performed during working hours without risk to the protected loads or maintenance engineer.
About Pinewood Television
Pinewood Television is part of the 200 acre site at Pinewood Shepperton and provides first class digital television studios to a number of broadcasters and independent producers. With two 9000 sq ft studios equipped with air conditioning, full control room facilities as well as associated dressing rooms, wardrobe areas, offices and meeting rooms, the studios are perfect for a wide variety of TV productions. The studios are close to the M25, M4 and M40 which means that while the studios are easily accessible they have the added bonus of counting as ‘regional production’. As part of the world famous Pinewood Studios there are all the benefits of a full support infrastructure on site.