TEMPORARY POWER SYSTEMS
Installation at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
James Eade, leading expert in temporary power systems.
James delivering training.
EXPERT JAMES EADE REVEALS THE INNER WORKINGS OF A HIDDEN SIDE OF THE ELECTRICAL BUSINESS AND CALLS FOR TALENTED INSTALLERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO SHINE BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY… All the world’s a stage
J ames Eade is the leading consultant for an electrical speciality that may not be familiar to most electricians: temporary power systems. As Head of Energy, he project-managed the delivery of event power supply to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which involved 125 generators delivering 26 MVA of power, 400,000 litres of fuel, 2,000 distribution boards, 500km of cable and 3MVA of batteries – installed, used and removed within a few weeks. James has also deployed his expertise in concerts for bands like U2, TV shows such as Strictly and blockbusters like HBO hit Game of Thrones. He is the author of Temporary Power Systems, the IET guide to the application of BS 7671 and BS 7909, The IET Practitioner’s Guide to Temporary Power
Systems and the IET Code of Practice on In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (ISITEE). He also writes for the IET’s Wiring Matters publication. In this chat with Ireland’s Electrical Magazine, James shines a light on the peculiarities of this little-known side of the electrical business and talks about how Covid decimated the sector and the serious shortage of skilled professionals following this career path. IEM: What can be considered a temporary power system? JE: It’s any system that’s not permanently installed, but it doesn’t have to be related to an event or a show. During the construction of a railway, for example, there are temporary offices, buildings and infrastructure to service the work: they
are all there for a set period, and hence are temporary.
IEM: How else do temporary systems differ from installed systems? JE: The main difference is the absence of permanent infrastructure to fix cabling to. Another is that the source of supply is typically one or more generators. These days, they are augmented with battery storage systems to make hybrid units. Installers need to understand the characteristics of the supply (or the transfer from generator to inverter, for example) and the resilience requirements. If you’re doing a big festival and you have 20,000 people in a field, you need backup measures and resilient supplies for safety services in case a generator fails. It requires more planning and thought than a typical installation.
40 | IRELAND’S ELECTRICAL MAGAZINE
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