Electricity North West completes £1.4 million AstraZeneca project

Electricity North West has completed a £1.4 million project to update and protect facilities at the AstraZeneca manufacturing site in Macclesfield.

The new high-voltage electrical facility will ensure that the pharmaceuticals company can continue manufacturing in the event of disruption to its power supply and operate around the clock.

Work was carried out the Customer Network Solutions team, which builds, operates and maintains private power networks for businesses. A new 33 kV switchroom was designed and constructed by Electricity North West, along with additional switchgear that will reinforce the electricity supply at AstraZeneca in Macclesfield.

Mike Haniak, Head of Customer Network Solutions Operations at Electricity North West, said:

Because of the nature of what AstraZeneca produces at its Macclesfield site and the importance to the pharmaceutical and health industries, it is essential that their electricity network is secure and reliable.

“AstraZeneca’s existing electricity switchgear had been successfully keeping the company’s production lines moving but, to maintain that protection for years to come, some of that electrical hardware needed to be replaced.

“This project saw the construction of a Switchroom and the installation of modern switchgear. Despite the challenges this created, new equipment was successfully installed, commissioned and brought on-line without any disruption to Astra Zeneca’s ongoing operations and is now adding even greater protection to the business’s future supply.”

Des Belford from AstraZeneca added:

As a leading biopharmaceutical business, it is obviously essential that we put plans in place to ensure the security of our power supply around the clock.

“The Macclesfield 33kV project has gone exceptionally well and is a credit to all who have contributed to it. This was a very high risk/complex project, which had the ability to shut down the entire site, interrupting the supply of drugs to both the UK and Global markets.”

In November 2019 AstraZeneca announced plans to add a further 96,000 sq ft manufacturing facility at the pharmaceutical firm’s Macclesfield campus.