Plant retrofits

Electrical retrofits for Edmonton-area plants: new production lines, relocated equipment, added capacity and control changes, phased around production.

When the process changes, the power has to move with it

Plants rarely stay the same for long. A new line goes in, equipment moves to improve flow, a process is automated, or a building is taken over by a new owner with different needs. Each change touches the electrical system: power to new equipment, removal of old circuits, and changes to controls.

We plan and carry out electrical retrofits for fabrication shops, food processors, warehouses and industrial plants around Edmonton. The goal is always the same: get the new setup running, safely, with the least possible disruption to what is already producing.

Start with what you have

Many retrofit problems come from assumptions about the existing system. Before we design anything, we survey it:

• Available capacity at the main switchgear and MCCs.
• Spare breakers, buckets and conduit routes.
• Condition and accuracy of existing drawings.
• Abandoned circuits that need to be made safe or removed.
• Environment at the new location: dust, washdown, heat or hazardous areas.

If the existing service cannot carry the new load, we flag it early so you can plan a switchgear upgrade or a service change rather than discovering it during installation.

Phasing the work

Most retrofits do not need the whole plant down. We break the job into phases: pre-pulling cable, pre-building panels and installing new equipment while the old line runs, then cutting over in short planned windows.

We agree each cutover window with your operations team, and we bring enough people and materials to finish on time. Our online job management system shares the schedule and progress so everyone knows what is happening.

Permits, safety and records

Retrofit work needs a permit under the Safety Codes Act, and larger changes may need engineered drawings. We work under your site safety program and lockout procedures, and we confirm area classifications before working in dusty or hazardous locations.

At the end, we hand over updated single-lines, panel schedules and MCC labels so your maintenance team is not chasing ghost circuits years from now.

Cost depends on the amount of new equipment, distance from power, capacity changes, control complexity and how much work must happen in short shutdown windows. Pre-building costs a little more in labour but often saves far more in downtime.

We also look ahead. If you expect more equipment in a few years, adding spare conduit, tray capacity or MCC spaces now is far cheaper than opening everything up again later.

Common retrofit projects

Every plant is different, but these are the retrofit jobs we see most often:

• Adding a new production line or machine to an existing building.
• Relocating equipment to improve flow or make room for growth.
• Converting a warehouse to light manufacturing.
• Replacing old fluorescent or HID lighting during a broader upgrade.
• Adding VFDs and controls to save energy on fans, pumps and compressors.
• Cleaning up decades of add-ons into an organized, documented system.

That last one deserves a mention. Many older Alberta plants have grown through years of quick fixes, with circuits fed from wherever there was space. A retrofit is a good time to tidy the system so it is easier to maintain and safer to work on.

Questions we hear