Emergency Chiller Hire Keeps Strictly Come Dancing on Schedule

Challenges

• The theatre’s permanent chiller plant had failed completely, leaving the building without cooling ahead of a major live television event.
• With less than 30 hours until Strictly Come Dancing, the temporary cooling solution had to be designed, delivered, installed and commissioned within an exceptionally tight timeframe.
• New connection points were required to allow the temporary hire equipment to integrate with the existing chilled water system.
• Both packaged chillers required dedicated 125A three-phase power supplies, meaning the site’s electrical infrastructure had to be prepared before delivery.
• The cooling system needed to restore acceptable internal temperatures quickly enough for the venue to operate safely and comfortably before the audience arrived.

Our Solution

• Following the site survey, Rapid Energy specified a 320kW temporary chiller hire solution using two 160kW packaged chillers, providing the capacity required to restore cooling throughout the theatre.
• We worked closely with our client to define the hydraulic connection requirements, allowing 4″ PN16 connection points and isolation valves to be installed before the equipment arrived. This enabled a fast and efficient connection on the day of installation.
• Our engineers identified the electrical requirements at an early stage, confirming that each chiller required its own dedicated 125A three-phase supply. We communicated these requirements to our client, who arranged for electricians to install the necessary supplies from the main distribution board, leaving the commando sockets ready before delivery.
• The following morning, the hire equipment was delivered to site and our engineers isolated the permanent cooling system before connecting the flow and return hoses, electrical supplies and temporary chillers.
• Once all connections had been completed, the system was fully commissioned, restoring chilled water to the theatre’s air handling units and allowing the building to begin cooling immediately.