Building House Near High Voltage Substation

what?yeah · 18-12-2021 12:47AM #1

The home I grew up in is situated beside a 38kv ESB substation. Apart from one night many years ago after a storm when we heard a loud bang, the sub station has never been an issue.

Recently an opportunity has come up to build a new house on the land right beside the substation fence. At the rear of the substation there are 2 x 10 MVA outdoor transformers on concrete pads. At the closest point the new house will be ~6 meters from one of the transformers. Apart from being an eyesore and the audible hum, is this cause for concern in the off chance there is a transformer fault causing a fire?

I know transformer fires are rare, but they are not negligible. Are there any safety standards in terms of distance between transformers like these and residential buildings?

Thanks

18-12-2021 07:08AM

The risk of either of the transformers going on fire is negligible. This would not concern me at all.

10-10-20 · 18-12-2021 11:44AM

Is it possible to quench the hum if you're that close? That's one question that I'd have.

what?yeah · 18-12-2021 01:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118341333#Comment_118341333

Fair enough! But I presume there are some safety measures defined somewhere for safe distance etc. in the rare occurrence of a fire.

Bare in mind this is a family home for the next 40+ years so peace of mind is of importance.

ED E · 18-12-2021 01:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118341333#Comment_118341333

Unless thieves target it for copper reclamation. Then you're f'cked.

https://twitter.com/DubFireBrigade/status/721793072590417920?

what?yeah · 18-12-2021 01:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118342009#Comment_118342009

To quench the hum and avoid the eyesore we’ve designed the house so no windows are looking out towards the substation where possible. The house is double leaf block with full fill insulation and good air tightness which should quench the hum indoors.

The outdoor hum has never been a problem for me. When sitting out in my parents garden I only notice the hum when I listen out for it. Usually it just blends into the background.

what?yeah · 18-12-2021 02:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118342414#Comment_118342414

This incident was at a larger substation, so probably looks more severe than anything likely to happen near me, but scary all the same.

I don’t mind the idea of a fire happening next door as long as it doesn’t impact my property and the probability of it happening in the first place is highly unlikely. I just have no idea what the blast radius is on one of these 10 MVA transformers.

ted1 · 19-12-2021 09:59PM

What part of the country are you in? Do you know if there’s plans to upgrade the substation, are they going to be adding renewables to it?

is there over head lines or underground cables going through the site?

6m is pretty close. That’s only 1.6m to the fence or closer

what?yeah · 20-12-2021 10:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118349133#Comment_118349133

Thanks @ted1. I’m in Kildare. I’m not sure about upgrades, where would I find this information? Why do ask about renewables, what would be the implications of this?

The cables are underground, thankfully.

Space is at a premium in this substation. It’s in a built up area. It’s conceivable that it could be upgraded as large amounts of land nearby has been zoned residential and there are plans to extend the dart to this area.

The house will be 2m from the fence at the closest point. I haven’t measured the distance inside the substation to the transformer (I think it would be unwise to stick a measuring tape in!) but looks to be 4m to me.

I’ve attached a screenshot to give an idea of distance. The trees in our garden obscure the perimeter fence but it still gives a good indication.

ted1 · 20-12-2021 01:15PM

If it was going to have renewables connected. , there would be a good chance that they would add a 3rd transformer and add more bays

it’s an indoor station in an urban area. So the likelihood of them doing any additional work is low. The Dart will have its own substations, however the recent announcement regards to ordering carriages suggests that they are going to use batteries to remove the need to electrify the lines

what?yeah · 20-12-2021 05:19PM

So if I’m reading in between the lines correctly, we seem to be close the bare minimum safe distance from one of the transformers.

The house on the other side of the sub station is also very close to the perimeter, however the boundary there is a 2.2m block wall and not a fence.

I think I’d be happier if the fence was removed and replaced with a wall. It would look better, help dampen the sound, and provide a degree of protection in the event of a transformer fault.

I guess I’d need to contact the ESB to see if building a wall in place of the fence is acceptable.

ted1 · 20-12-2021 09:31PM

Off hand I think the l rule is 4.6m to the fence for transformers.

Building House Near High Voltage Substation

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