Energisation and cold commissioning

How does Energisation and cold commissioning work, step by step?

1. 1

   Step 1: Agree the requirements with the network operator early

   Long before anything is ready, the project and the network operator agree what will be required to allow the connection to be made live: what has to be complete, what evidence has to be produced, in what form, who witnesses what and what approvals have to be in place. That agreement is documented and tracked as a deliverable in its own right. Producing the evidence progressively as the systems complete is far cheaper than assembling it retrospectively, and it also surfaces disagreements about what is acceptable while there is still time to deal with them.

2. 2

   Step 2: Complete and prove the auxiliary systems first

   A platform cannot do anything until it can support itself. Supplies, cooling, ventilation, lighting, fire detection and suppression, drainage, communications, control and monitoring all have to be installed, tested and brought into service before anything larger is attempted. These systems are therefore the first to reach mechanical completion and the first to be commissioned, and the sequence of the whole campaign is arranged around them. Until they are proved, the platform cannot safely support the work that follows.

3. 3

   Step 3: Establish the control and authorisation arrangements

   Before anything is made live, it must be clear who controls the asset, who can authorise work on it and how that authority is exercised and recorded. The arrangement is formal, it is documented, and the people who hold roles under it are appointed by name and are competent to hold them. Everyone working on or near the asset is briefed on what it means for them. From this point, the freedom to work that applied during construction no longer exists, and that change is the point of the exercise.

4. 4

   Step 4: Assemble and submit the evidence

   The evidence supporting energisation is assembled from the completion records: mechanical completion certificates, test results, equipment certification, protection and control settings, drawings reflecting what was actually installed, and the outstanding punch items with their categorisation. It is submitted in the agreed form and reviewed by the network operator and by the project's own authorities. Queries are answered and gaps are closed. This review takes real time and it is planned into the programme rather than assumed to be instantaneous.

5. 5

   Step 5: Hold the readiness review

   A formal readiness review brings together the project, the commissioning team and the network operator to confirm that everything required is in place. It covers the technical evidence, the control arrangements, the competence of the people involved, the plan for the operation itself and the arrangements should anything not go as expected. The review has a defined outcome: proceed, or proceed subject to specific conditions, or not yet. That outcome is recorded, and if the answer is not yet then the reasons are specific and actionable.

6. 6

   Step 6: Carry out the energisation as a controlled step

   Energisation is carried out with the network operator under the formal authorisation regime that has been established for the asset, by the appointed people, at an agreed time, with everyone who needs to know informed beforehand. The area is prepared and access to it is controlled. The operation is recorded as it happens. The detail of the sequence, the arrangements and the procedures belongs to the authorisation regime and to the parties who hold the roles within it, and it is not something the wider project team improvises or shortcuts.

7. 7

   Step 7: Carry out the checks that need the platform live

   With the platform live, checks that could not be done beforehand are carried out. These are planned individually, authorised under the same regime and recorded in the same way as the energisation itself. Results are compared against the values expected from the design and from the earlier testing, and anything that does not match is investigated rather than accepted. Each of these activities is treated as a separate controlled operation with its own preparation and its own authorisation.

8. 8

   Step 8: Record the state and move on to the turbines

   When the platform and the connection are live and stable, the status of every system is recorded and the asset is left in a defined and understood state. The records go into the handover dossier. Attention then moves to the turbines, which are brought forward in groups so that the wind farm begins producing progressively rather than all at once. The authorisation regime established for the platform now covers everything downstream of it, and every subsequent step happens within it.