Pudasjärvi Welfare Centre Pirtti
A backup power generator ensures the distribution of electricity at the welfare centre in exceptional situations
During autumn 2020 and spring 2021, a new landmark, the log-structured Welfare Centre Pirtti, rose in the centre of Pudasjärvi, in which kW-set delivered a backup power unit. Its box beam-framed container is a more easily customisable alternative compared to the typical shipping container solution.
Pirtti, a new log-structured welfare centre in Pudasjärvi, is a genuine meeting place for people living in the town. In addition to the health centre and other social welfare and healthcare services, the 10,000-square-metre building houses a library, youth and employment services, various cultural activities, as well as auditorium, meeting and business facilities.
kW-set was responsible for the backup power delivery for the welfare centre, securing the supply of electricity in the building in the event of any power outages. The project was carried out based on a solution model in which the backup power container frame is made of box beams.
The uninterrupted operation of healthcare services must be guaranteed
The backup power unit ordered through Sähkö-Polar, the electrical contractor for the welfare centre, arrived at kW-set facilities in Tuusula in January 2021. Before that, kW-set had demonstrated its backup power design solution to the building designer and electrical contractor, who approved it. The construction of the container had already been started at the beginning of the year. “The backup power system consists of a broad range of components: a container, a backup power unit, a fuel tank, a circuit breaker and a control centre, as well as wiring between them, lighting, radiators, and the list goes on,” says Kaarlo Valli, Sales Manager at kW-set.
After Easter, the unit underwent a factory acceptance test to ensure that it is the correct unit for the purpose for which it is intended.
In backup power deliveries, the detailed delivery content varies depending on the destination. The most important task of backup power generation at the welfare centre is, through its operational readiness, to guarantee the uninterrupted operation of hospital and other healthcare services, including in crisis and emergency situations. “Of course, other services are equally secured. There may be incidents in which the aim is to ensure the sufficiency of electricity generation,” says Valli.
“An easy solution for the contractor”
“The backup power delivery to the Pudasjärvi Welfare Centre is the only one of its kind,” Kaarlo Valli says. The delivery covered the sound level requirements set for a 460 kVA open frame container-installed backup power unit, as well as its commissioning and later maintenance services.
According to Valli, this was a special location with a high level of requirements from the design point of view. “We had to find the correct solution for it, and we ended up in a container with a box beam frame. We were able to offer the best possible detailed solution in the most technologically and financially sensible way, without making any compromises over quality.”
Sähkö-Polar has worked with kW-set in a few other locations in addition to the welfare centre. According to Sähkö-Polar’s supervisor Sauli Komulainen, the backup power delivery in Pudasjärvi went “easily and well” as in previous projects. “According to the document, the unit has been designed, built, delivered and commissioned. This is an easy solution for the contractor.”
The welfare centre received its carefully designed and customised backup power system exactly as requested.
“Backup power must always be implemented in such a way that it is ultimately the last system that runs in the location in question, even if everything else stops working,” Kaarlo Valli says in summary.
