How to scope the electrical side of a plant shutdown

Plate 01

Inventory before you demolish

The first task is a list: every transformer, switchgear line-up, MCC, panelboard, busway run, transfer switch, capacitor bank, generator and cable feeder, with nameplate data and a photograph. It takes one person a few days on most plants and it is the foundation of every subsequent decision.

Without that list, equipment gets scrapped by whoever is holding a torch on the day the schedule tightens. With it, the high-value items can be sequenced out first and sold as functioning assemblies.

Plate 02

Sequence around power, not around geography

Demolition contractors sequence by area. Electrical systems have to be sequenced by dependency: what feeds what, and what still has to stay energized for lighting, fire protection, dewatering, security and the demolition work itself.

That means somebody has to decide early which distribution stays alive to the end, and often that means installing a temporary service so the permanent gear can be removed while it still has resale value. Gear that has to remain in place until the final week frequently ends up damaged or sold under pressure.

Plate 03

Sell versus scrap, decided on the list

Switchgear, transformers in the common size bands, drawout breakers, bus plugs, MCC buckets, generators and copper feeder cable generally carry resale value. Conduit, fittings, lighting, small panelboards, damaged enclosures and anything submerged or fire-damaged generally do not.

The important thing is that the decision is made from the inventory, in advance, and written into the demolition scope so that the equipment being sold is excluded from the demolition contractor's salvage rights. That single sentence in a contract has been worth six figures on projects we have worked on.

Plate 04

The documents that keep it moving

A current single-line diagram, the switching and isolation plan, the equipment inventory with photographs, environmental records for liquid-filled units, and a site access procedure. When those five documents exist, a decommissioning proceeds predictably. When they do not, every week produces a new surprise and the surprises are always expensive.