AMEC provides services from initial feasibility and environmental studies to ongoing care and maintenance to electricity transmission infrastructures
Many of the assets that make up the national electricity grids are ageing and need to be upgraded or replaced to maintain levels of reliability.
In response to industry concerns about a potential national skills shortage in the overhead line sector in the UK, AMEC opened a Training and Development Centre, which has been running successfully for three years. The Centre accommodates up to 48 delegates a year who, in the first six weeks, undertake a mixture of class-based studies and practical work before gaining valuable experience working onsite, returning to the Centre to complete two further modules. On completion of the two-year course, trainees become fully qualified linesmen, having gained an industry recognised qualification; NVQ level three in Electrical Distribution and Transmission Systems.
The Centre provides a consistent supply of skilled recruits to the industry and builds on our ability to deliver improvements to miles of high voltage power lines, and hundreds of substations.
As well as investment in learning and training we are focused on development of a range of advanced technological systems, from project management software, our patented AP1 (AMEC Power 1) Woodpole design solution, to our exclusive DART airborne survey tool. DART can be flown over considerable lengths of power cables and towers, constantly capturing images which are transmitted to our engineers on the ground. These images are then immediately converted into working design solutions, enabling us to establish the most appropriate remediation for each section. This significantly reduces time spent undertaking manual feasibility work, and therefore cuts costs for our customers in pre-sanction and detailed engineering.