Liftable covers keep RWE’s Great Yarmouth outage on track

RWE Generation UK has been a longtime customer of Rubb, with a series of THA structures supplied to its Great Yarmouth Power Station site over the years.

When RWE began planning a major four-month outage at the site in 2026, the requirement was different: temporary cover that could go up quickly, be lifted into place by crane, and come down again just as easily once the works were complete.

Time is of the essence

“Our four-month major outage involved storage and overhaul of large turbine components of up to 80 tonnes outdoors, which needed to be lifted by mobile crane, and be rotated at various stages of work,” says Ross Salmon, Rotating Equipment Engineer at RWE.

Every day a turbine stays offline is lost generating capacity, so minimising downtime is the priority. “On previous outages we had used sheeted scaffold structures, which would need to be built and dismantled each time cranes were used,” Ross continues.

“The liftable Rubb buildings gave a significant advantage by reducing delays, as the process of unbolting and lifting was very quick.”

Our crane-liftable covers

We supplied three liftable THA shelters to Great Yarmouth Power Station: two 8m x 12m structures and one 8m x 9m structure, all with 3.3m leg eaves height.

Unlike a standard cover, each structure was specified with integrated lifting points, allowing them to be connected directly to crane operations and lifted into and out of position as the outage progressed.

The buildings were installed onto RWE’s existing tarmac and concrete hardstanding, avoiding the need for new foundations and without leaving a lasting footprint on site.

Site safety

The benefits extended to on-site safety, especially in comparison to scaffold methods. “The Rubb buildings provided excellent protection from wind and rain, which would not have been as reliable with a sheeted scaffold structure,” Ross confirms.

“They also had the safety impact of reducing the requirement for work at height versus scaffold, as well as risk to turbine components of scaffold materials being dropped onto them.”

During servicing, engineers need full, safe access to the machinery. Cramped walkdowns and awkward access waste valuable time, so cover on site has to keep pace: quick to install, out of the way during the works, and most importantly safe.

We’ve supplied RWE with quite a few Rubb structures over the years, but this was the first time they’ve been liftable. We designed in lifting points from the outset so they could be craned into position and lifted straight back out once the outage was finished, without any of the downtime conventional methods would involve.