BS7671 Application to Power Stations

where on the planet is this power station?
Arguably '7671 is just one of a number of regional derivatives of the harmonized international standards so most of the technical bits in BS 7671 start life at the IEC level, and progress to CENELEC, although sometimes in reality the development work happens in parallel. The international standard is known as IEC 60364, while the European standard is CENELEC HD 60364.
So a design that meets '7671 should meet the CENELEC and by extension the IEC  requirements as well. The reverse is not always true, but read on ;-)
Now the fact this is a power station is perhaps a red herring, as only the back office bits will be 400/230V low voltage, and will be done more or less like any other industrial setting. The actual power station parts will be at HV, though there will be a lot of control and monitoring that is mains fired much as there may be at, say a site like a large chemical works.

HASWA does not require BS7671, which is good, as very few big installations meet it to the letter for all of the installation, and there are several corner cases, especially within test and research facilities, where it is not always a good fit to what is needed.

What the law does require is that the installation is safe and demonstrably safe, and certainly for areas with some 13A sockets and some lights, then a very good way to meet the requirement is to design and test  to BS7671 so of course this is correct and perfectly acceptable to do.

Or one could also achieve this perhaps by using an equivalent IEC derived standard from any other country, and also meet the legal requirements. It is harder, as you need folk here familiar with practice there, but it is not especially uncommon on sites for multinational collaborative projects, and 'local rules' wiring is also sometimes found in less industrial places like embassies.

So its not as bad as you may fear...
Mike

What sort of "power station" are we talking about? Something like another Drax, or something smaller and modular or something else? (the term even seems to get used for a few 12V batteries and an inverter these days). I'm just wondering if some or all of it is manufactured abroad and later dropped onto site (and other such units may likewise be dropped onto sites in other countries) - so working to a single standard would be convenient.

If it were say the output from a solar farm or small hydro scheme, at LV, it could almost come under the heading of a "system for distribution of electricity to the public" which is excluded from BS 7671 by 110.2(i) (depending on quite where you'd draw the line between generation on distribution). Certainly I'd expect BS 7671 to be used for say offices with 13A sockets, but on the other extreme if it was more of a shipping container like unmanned box that was just connected into the grid, it may feel more like a piece of equipment than BS 7671 territory.

  - Andy.

I agree with the above, and also ask who is asking, and why?

Reason being that if this question relates to new installation work then there may (should) be a contract specifying standards to be applied. Note that if connected to a distribution network the standard terms of connection often require that the installation follows BS7671. Likewise for other contractual situations.

If it's not to BS7671, it is reasonable to ask what standard(s) / policy(s) are applicable to the section of installation in question, or if it's generally to a standard with deviations, the justification and risk assessment for that deviation. For large organisations there could well be company polices written to suit their operational needs and based on / justified by experience. Often, but far from always, these standards start with words to the effect of "Follow BS7671 except..."

Chris Bailey said:

Also I am not sure why a 'power station' would be omitted from the scope of BS7671

The 'system for distribution to the public' (i.e. the generators and distribution equipment), if low voltage, is out of scope (Reg 110.2 (i)), but other low voltage electrical systems in the power station (local power, lighting, etc.) are not "out of scope".

As an example,  LV services in DNO substations are often required to conform to BS 7671.

gkenyon said:

The 'system for distribution to the public' (i.e. the generators and distribution equipment), if low voltage, is out of scope (Reg 110.2 (i)), but other low voltage electrical systems in the power station (local power, lighting, etc.) are not "out of scope".

That was my first thought on seeing the question. The actual power which is generated is out of scope, but the 13 A socket which Mrs Meggs uses for her vacuum cleaner at the end of the working day is definitely within scope.