District cooling plant, Kuopion Energia

Standard selection for process industry – KS80 cable ladders

Kuopio Energia’s district cooling plant utilizes cold energy stored in the depths of the nearby lake Kallavesi to cool neighboring properties, including Kuopio University Hospital.

About 1.5 kilometers of cable ladder KS80 was installed for process electricity.

Short distances between the lake, cooling plant and customers increases efficiency and saves energy.

Energy from the depths

Two years earlier nearly three kilometres of pipes were installed. At the shore of Savilahti, 22-metre-long plastic pipes were welded together. Two long pipes were sunk into the lake. Other end of the pipe is 32 metre deep in Neulalahti where the water is five degrees Celsius. The other end of the pipe is located near the cooling plant around 7 metres deep. Total capacity of the cooling plant will produce a water flow of thousand litres per second.

Electrical construction of the plant begun in September in 2019. At first, the installation required two to three electricians, but at the beginning of the next year nearly ten electricians and electrical construction specialists.

Electrical installations in tight schedules

”When a large process pipeline is installed the workload of the contractor concentrates on a short period of time which brings its own difficulties” summarizes Tuomas Pesonen, the site manager from Kolmen Sähkö Oy. He also explains that “electrical work of the site can only begin after machines, equipment and pipelines have been installed.” External pressure was heavy because investments had to become profitable as soon as possible.

Guiding 3D models

3D models were done based on the site´s cable routing. The models were only guiding and did not cover any other details than cable routing and cable management information. “One small change in a big process pipeline can cause cumulative changes along the way in different places” says the business manager Panu Knuutinen from Kolmen Sähkö. “And also, on paper two-forty copper cable bends nicely on cable ladders, but in reality, everything does not happen as planned” adds Pesonen.

Supporting, suspension and different installation methods were left to installers themselves because these were not included in the plans and models. When there are five or six levels of cable ladders simultaneously it is a challenge even for the most experienced installer. On this site the overall result was a mix of different supports.

Without compromising on quality

Especially in process plants it is important not to skimp or compromise on parts. The chosen products, parts and installation methods must be safe and supporting – most of all reliable and durable over time.

In these types of projects, the right choice of personnel has a huge effect on how the work proceeds and how the result unfolds. “Great team who is used to work independently with heavy duty cable ladders and cables” is one key to success according to Knuutinen.

Critical delivery times

Main products used were 500 and 300 widths KS80 cable ladders. All products were delivered on time. However, the whole amount of 1,5km of cable ladders was not delivered at once because of limited storage spaces.

Cable routing of the site was done using Meka´s basic products which have good availability. “It is vital that right products will be delivered on the right time. There is no time to wait on the construction site” says Knuutinen. Especially cable management systems are highly critical to get at the right time. Luckily, this time everything went as planned.

Giving and receiving feedback

Everything hasn’t gone always perfectly and Kolmen Sähkö has experience in this. “Reclamations must be taken as a development opportunity. Knowing what went wrong is definitely the best form of feedback” ponders Pesonen calmly. Cooperation with Kolmen Sähkö has been continuing for two decades and will continue in the future which indicates that changes according to feedback have been taken seriously.

Good end result as a selling point

Kolmen Sähkö has forty electrical construction workers and ten managers. There has been interesting projects in the nearby region so there has been no need to travel further. The company has a strong skillset in industrial maintenance, but construction business has somewhat increased during the years.

During the last 5-6 years, many employees have reached the age of retirement which is the reason why the company has suffered a loss of experience and skills. However, they invest in development of employees and encourage them to learn and innovate. Also, they believe in the power of feedback. “Customer´s representatives are being discussed with and positive feedback is given to workers. It is extremely important that we are not silent but think actively what we can do better” tells Knuutinen about the daily work at Kolmen Sähkö.

“The best selling point is great work and great end results. That´s what we stick to. Luckily, our workers would not even settle for low quality results” summarizes Panu Knuutinen at the end.