Secure I.T. Environments completes NHS data centre power and cooling upgrades

Secure I.T. Environments has finished UPS and air conditioning upgrades for an NHS Foundation Trust, replacing aging critical infrastructure at two hospital data centres. The projects are designed to improve resilience, support future growth and cut energy use, with the cooling work projected to pay back in just over three years.

Why it matters: - The upgrades strengthen the Trust’s live data centre resilience in a hospital setting where power and cooling failures can affect patient services. - The cooling project is projected to save more than 58,000 kg of CO2 a year and £32,305 in annual energy costs. - The Trust expects a return on investment in just over three years.

What happened: - Secure I.T. Environments Ltd completed live UPS and air conditioning upgrade projects for an NHS Foundation Trust. - The UPS work replaced two end-of-life systems with modular Riello Multi Power UPS infrastructure. - The cooling work replaced aging air handling units at a second data centre SITE originally built in the 2000s. - The projects were delivered in London on a live critical infrastructure site.

The details: - SITE installed two Riello MPW 252kVA UPS chassis, each configured at 84kVA N+1 using 42kW power modules. - The modular UPS setup allows additional modules to be added as demand grows without replacing the full platform. - The second site supports more than 800 beds, outpatient services and one of the busiest emergency departments in the South East. - The existing four AHU units were reaching end of life. - SITE decommissioned the condenser compound and built a new ground-level compound so heat rejection equipment would sit in free air and avoid recirculation effects. - The AHU design was specified to help the data centre maintain optimum environmental conditions against rising heatwave risk modelled over the next decade. - The new FläktGroup AHU equipment is more energy efficient than the old cooling gear. - The cooling solution includes physical security features and network alerting and monitoring. - The UPS project included new underfloor containment and cabling, new DC transition boxes, integration with existing battery strings after testing and suitability checks, remote monitoring capability, commissioning by a Riello-accredited engineer, load bank testing and handover training for operational estates engineers. - The work was carried out with phased delivery to keep the hospital live. - UPS streams were replaced one at a time across two weekend shutdowns, with the first replacement system commissioned and carrying load before the second was disconnected. - Construction for the new AHUs and relocated condenser compound was scheduled to limit disruption in the underground car park and avoid nearby cancer care clinics. - A Trust spokesperson said the project was carried out smoothly by Secure I.T. Environments and its partners Riello.

Between the lines: - The project shows how hospital estates teams are pairing resilience upgrades with energy-efficiency gains rather than treating them as separate goals. - The phased approach suggests the biggest challenge was not the technology itself, but delivering major infrastructure changes without interrupting clinical operations. - The modular UPS choice gives the Trust a clearer upgrade path if demand rises, which matters in healthcare environments where digital load typically grows over time.

What's next: - The new UPS platform gives the Trust room for future capacity expansion through additional power modules. - The new cooling infrastructure is now positioned to support the site through higher heat stress conditions and lower operating costs. - SITE said the projects provide a clearer path for future expansion of the Trust’s critical infrastructure.

The bottom line: - The upgrades replace aging hospital data centre infrastructure with a more flexible power system and a more efficient cooling setup, while keeping services running during the work.