Risk Mitigation Strategies for Emergency Power Upgrades in Critical Facilities

This paper discusses risk mitigation strategies for emergency power upgrades in critical facilities, such as hospitals and data centers. Larger facilities and campuses, typically have complex emergency power systems, which rely on multiple standby generators, control systems for paralleling and automatic transfer sequences, switchgear and medium voltage power distribution systems. Integration amongst components is essential in ensuring reliable operation of the emergency power system. Given the critical nature of the loads supported by emergency power systems, downtime cannot be tolerated. There are a number of risk mitigation strategies that can be undertaken to minimize the operational risk associated with equipment upgrade projects. This paper will review successful strategies from two separate projects that involved completely upgrading emergency power systems.