Exeter’s EX2 Group Complete £10 million Power Upgrade at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has just had a huge £10 million energy infrastructure overhaul from the EX2 Group, securing vital resilience for the future.

Exeter electrical engineering and construction specialist EX2 Group has successfully completed a major, five‑year programme upgrading the electrical infrastructure for the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (Wonford) – boosting resilience and supporting patient care. 

The behind-the-scenes power overhaul, totalling around £10 million, involved the replacement of the hospital’s main high‑voltage (HV) and low‑voltage (LV) systems alongside back‑up generation equipment. 

“Being able to complete such a significant upgrade at the RD&E is testament to the professionalism and collaboration of the entire project team,” said Martyn Beale, Managing Director of EX2 Group.

“We are delighted to help the Trust build a resilient electrical platform that will serve this community for decades to come.”

The modernised infrastructure provides the RD&E with improved power resilience, safeguards critical medical equipment and services, and supports future expansion of services and new technologies – supporting better patient care for the region.

Key elements of the project included:

• Replacing four of the site’s main electrical transformers
• Removing the old generators and installing three new ones, while keeping backup power available at all times
• Laying more than 5km of temporary cabling to keep the site running during the works
• Removing two outdated electrical switchboards and installing four modern replacements in newly arranged switch-rooms
• Upgrading major power routes across the building, including a new busbar system, improved cable containment, and extensive renewal of key electrical cabling.

Working within a live acute hospital environment, EX2 Group acted as Principal Contractor; project managing, designing and installing the upgrades with their expert team. To facilitate the new infrastructure, substantial construction and enabling works were undertaken. This consisted of construction of a new steel-framed generator switch room, construction of a maintenance walkway to provide a resilient services route for distribution of services, relocation of medical gas manifold rooms and the repositioning of the main high temperature heating pumps.

Early in the project they commissioned a detailed survey of existing building services and created a bespoke model, allowing them to identify coordination issues and constraints. This reduced on‑site disruption to services as well as minimising waste.

EX2 Group planned the project in carefully managed phases to make sure vital systems stayed powered at all times, even while old equipment was being taken out. The work involved more than 400 linked tasks, all scheduled in a precise order to ensure there was no disruption to clinical services or day-to-day operations.

John Horwell, Capital Projects Manager of the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said:

“Improving the power resilience for a major acute hospital like the RD&E is an extremely complex undertaking. Through strong collaboration and careful planning with EX2 Group, we successfully delivered this five-year programme in line with all our strategic and technical objectives. This has been one of the most intricate infrastructure projects we’ve managed, and it has resulted in a significantly more resilient and future-proof power system that will support the hospital’s services and the wider community for many years to come.”

About EX2 Group

Based in the Southwest, EX2 Group is a leading engineering services provider specialising in building services and electrical infrastructure projects across healthcare, commercial, and public sector environments. With a proven track record in complex live-site delivery, EX2 Group combines technical excellence with a collaborative approach to achieve safe, sustainable, and high-quality outcomes. 

EX2 Group currently employs 10 apprentices from Exeter College and are a member of the Green Skills Advisory Panel. 

For more information, visit www.ex2-group.com