Fremantle Hospital hires emergency generators for Western Power works closing one of main power supplies

A southern suburbs hospital was forced to procure several emergency generators due to major upcoming electrical works that will leave it with just one main power supply for two weeks. Western Power is undergrounding a section of one of the two “feeder” powerlines that supply electricity to Fremantle Hospital as part of wider works in the area to improve network resilience. It will leave the 300-bed hospital with just one main power supply between October 29 and November 10 while the secondary line is out of service. But the hospital’s ageing generators — due for replacement — will offer limited contingency should the main supply fail, forcing South Metropolitan Health Service to out the call out for emergency sourcing of temporary generators. “(Fremantle Hospital’s) existing generators are only capable of providing a maximum of one hour of emergency power due to cooling issues,” the listing said. The contract was awarded to energy solutions company Aggreko with an estimated price tag of nearly $300,000. Western Power’s infrastructure works come as SMHS seeks to replace its ageing emergency generators amid a review of critical electrical infrastructure projects, but both providers insist the upcoming work was a “well-planned event” with the appropriate contingency plans in place. “Fremantle Hospital has well-established emergency protocols to deal with unplanned outages and ensure patient safety, which is always our first priority,” a SMHS spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman did not say whether replacement of the emergency generators was overdue. “We maintain property and equipment to standards appropriate to provide safe, high quality health care, and we tender for new plant and equipment in accordance with relevant legislative requirements,” she said. Power outages can affect a range of hospital services, including delayed surgeries due to a lack of surgical-grade lighting or rendering crucial medical devices like ventilators useless without an uninterrupted power supply. The 300-bed hospital delivers specialist services including mental health care, general and elective surgeries, and has an ICU for post-operative critical care. Western Power said it worked with the hospital to source “additional temporary generation” to have on standby until the undergrounding work is finished. “In the unlikely event there is a fault on the remaining feeder caused by external factors, such as a weather event, customers may experience a very limited power outage while the fault is repaired,” a Western Power spokeswoman said. “At a critical community site, such as a hospital, these repairs are prioritised to ensure minimal disruption.”