HOUSEBUILDER CASE STUDIES

GTC and Power On Connections, in their first joint venture, have won the contract to provide electricity infrastructure to the regenerated Farnborough town centre. The re-development of the brownfield site, by St. Mowden's, will take nearly a year to complete and will include well known names such as Sainsbury's, Gala Clubs and Travel Lodge.

Power On connection's proven track record of delivery, performance on site, cost certainty and competitiveness of quotation, made them the clear choice for this specialist installation.

Once energized, the electricity network - including 7 HV transformers - will be adopted by GTC who will own, maintain and manage the newly installed electricity distribution system in perpetuity.

Working in partnership with Forth Electrical Services (FES), GTC provided the industrial and commercial gas infrastructure to Scotland's largets purpose-built shopping centre.

Despite tight timescales and complex technical requirements, GTC's experience in industrial and commercial connections enabled us to respond quickly to the project's evolving needs. The shopping centre opened on schedule in October 2007.

In 2006, GTC launched its electricity service enabling us to offer dual-fuel infrastructure. The Priestley Road development was one of our earliest projects using dual fuel. On 29th June 2007, Priestley Road became the first live low-voltage electricity network, connected directly to the Distribution Network Operator.

The first electric meters were installed to the show houses in August 2007. Careful planning and preparation by GTC ensured there were no on-site delays and the project was completed to schedule.

Already successful in delivering dual fuel on new developments, GTC’s next achievement was a large development of over 3,000 dual-fuel plots.

On this project, the housebuilder required a dual-fuel quotation with terms and conditions outside of GTC’s standard agreements. GTC was able to offer a market leading package which closely met the needs of the developer. Delivery of energy infrastructure to the site was complex, with no less than 14 electricity substations required, as well as significant offsite works and a main line railway to cross. These complexities meant careful planning and close working with the developer were essential to deliver a successful on-time outcome.

Due to the scale of this project, GTC worked closely with the housebuilder at the very early stages to ensure its smooth running.

GTC is aware there are as many brownfield developments as there are greenfield and the company aims to find a solution for all differing needs. This project involved the re-development of a former Butlins Camp for residential use.

The site presented a number of challenges, which GTC overcame. Not only did the network require the crossing of a railway line and passage through a historic town but, due to a lack of existing natural gas, GTC was also required to lay 3.5km of off-site infrastructure.

During 2002, GTC was awarded the contract to provide gas infrastructure to a new-build development at the site of the former MOD base at RAF Bentwaters, in Rendlesham, Suffolk.

The project involved laying over 6.5km of 250mm and 180mm medium-pressure feeder main to the new site, which comprised over 520 new homes along with a new primary school, doctors’ surgery, college annexe and offices. In addition, the site had existing community facilities such as a gymnasium, community centre, arts centre and church, which were all supplied with gas.

This project is an example of the increasing trend towards the re-development of former Ministry of Defence (MOD) sites, in line with regional government spatial strategies, which GTC was pleased to support.

When this development first started, there was no natural gas in the area and GTC served the first phases using a temporary LPG supply in partnership with Calor gas. In the meantime, the medium-pressure infrastructure was laid to bring natural gas to the development. Once installed, the properties served by LPG were converted to the new infrastructure. The remainder of the site was connected directly to natural gas.

The provision of gas infrastructure to Dartmoor Prison in 1999 was GTC’s first industrial only connection. The prison is located in the middle of the moors and required an 11.5 kilometre main extension across Dartmoor.

GTC was also able to supply the three villages surrounding and en route to the Prison - Princetown, Dousland and Walkhampton - providing all residents with the same benefits that Dartmoor enjoyed.

In 1998 GTC was involved in the provision of industrial gas infrastructure to Bournemouth International Airport. Today, Bournemouth Airport's thriving scheduled flight services connect over a million passengers to more than 60 international destinations a year.

In order to bring gas to the airport a connection was made to the host main by the A338 over 5,320 metres away. The success of this major project demonstrates GTC's capacity and capability in delivering utility connections on large scale industrial and commercial developments.