A generator or transformer move is an electrical job before it is a lifting one. A 1,250 kVA standby diesel set on its base frame, an oil-filled distribution transformer that has to be drained before it travels, a run of LV and MV switchgear panels, a UPS bank with its battery string, an AVR cabinet feeding a critical load — each carries weight, but the weight is the part we have done a thousand times. What sets these assets apart is that they hold stored energy, run hot, sit on live systems, and in the case of large transformers carry hundreds of litres of insulating oil that has to be handled, tested and put back. Across 22 years and 1,213 recorded moves, Seemleius has relocated diesel gensets, power and distribution transformers, switchgear and uninterruptible supplies in Dubai, across the wider UAE and into the Free Zones — from a 50 kVA cabinet set to power-station-class plant above 3 MW. Most of these moves touch an energised system somewhere, which is why the isolation plan is drawn at survey and signed off before a spanner is lifted.
Equipment categories handled
Diesel generators
Standby and prime-power sets from 50 kVA cabinet units up to 3 MW-plus open sets. Fuel and coolant drained for the road leg, exhaust and anti-vibration mounts logged, control panel and ATS interface recorded before disconnection.
Oil-filled transformers
Distribution and power transformers from a few hundred kVA to several MVA. Oil drained to a sealed bowser, Buchholz and bushings protected, dielectric sampled so the refill returns to specification at destination.
Dry-type transformers
Cast-resin and VPI units that travel without oil but bruise easily. Winding faces and HV terminals guarded against knock damage, lifting points used to the rating plate, moisture kept off the resin in transit.
Switchgear & panels
LV, MV and HV switchboards, MCCs, ring-main units and distribution panels. Busbar links marked, cubicles moved upright, withdrawable breakers racked out and crated separately to keep contacts clean.
UPS & battery systems
Static UPS modules and their VRLA or lithium battery strings. Strings broken down to safe transport voltage, cells handled level, the static switch and bypass arrangement recorded so the bank rebuilds to its proven configuration.
AVRs & control gear
Automatic voltage regulators, excitation cabinets and synchronising panels. Wiring photographed terminal by terminal, set-points noted from the existing commissioning record so the kit re-commissions against a known baseline.
Why a generator or transformer move is different
Re-site a lathe and the job ends when it is levelled and the operator powers it up. Electrical plant is not finished until it is earthed, tested and brought back onto load — and several things have to go right before it gets that far. Stored energy is the first. A capacitor bank, a UPS battery string or a transformer that has only just been de-energised holds a charge that can injure long after the breaker is open, so the work starts with a proven isolation: lock-off, prove dead, apply earths. Nothing is touched until that sequence is signed.
Oil is the second, and it is what makes a large oil-filled transformer a specialist lift rather than a heavy one. The insulating oil is drained to a sealed bowser before travel, partly for weight and partly because a brim-full tank moving on a road surface stresses the bushings and the Buchholz relay. The oil is sampled and tested, the unit travels under a nitrogen or sealed condition where the design calls for it, and at destination it is refilled, allowed to settle and filtered or dried if the dielectric breakdown figures ask for it. Dry-type units skip the oil but bring their own care — cast-resin windings crack if knocked or flexed, so they are handled to the rating-plate lifting points and kept dry. The third difference is the destination itself. Heavy electrical plant needs a foundation that carries it, anti-vibration mounting under a running genset so it does not walk or fatigue its connections, and an earthing arrangement that is measured and proven before the asset is energised. The move only counts as done once the kit is back on load and the test sheet is signed.
Methodology and equipment
The work runs on the same backbone as every industrial move we handle, set out in full on our machinery moving methodology page, with the electrical disciplines layered on top.
Isolate and make safe. Before anything moves, the supply is isolated, locked off and proved dead, earths are applied, and stored energy in batteries and capacitors is discharged to a safe level. Where the asset sits on a live board, a competent electrician works to a permit so the rest of the installation stays energised while the unit comes out. The isolation certificate is part of the method statement, not an afterthought on the day.
Drain, sample and protect. Oil-filled transformers are drained to a sealed bowser, a dielectric sample is drawn and logged, bushings and the conservator are protected, and the tank is sealed for transport. Genset fuel and coolant are drained for the road leg. Dry-type units, switchgear and UPS modules are prepared dry, with withdrawable breakers racked out and battery strings broken to a safe transport voltage.
Jack, skate and crane. Toe-jacks and machine skates walk a transformer or a packaged genset along the surveyed route; Hilman roller skate-sets carry the weight where there is no overhead lift; mobile cranes handle yard lifts, roof openings and the set-down onto a plinth. A medium distribution transformer commonly sits in the three-to-eight-tonne band and a large genset well beyond that, so floor loading along the path is checked at survey and lift plans are signed by the appointed person before the day.
Place, mount and earth. At destination the asset lands on its foundation or plinth, anti-vibration mounts are set under running plant, and the earthing connection is made and measured. Transformers are refilled, settled and the oil re-tested; switchgear is set plumb with busbar links remade; the UPS bank is rebuilt to its recorded configuration.
Re-energise and test. The kit is brought back to life under a controlled procedure: insulation-resistance testing, a transformer ratio test, earth-continuity and earth-resistance checks, and a staged re-energisation onto load. Where the OEM or your authorised contractor must witness commissioning, that is built into the plan and the test sheets are handed over with the asset.
The site survey, in detail
Nothing is quoted firm until an engineer has walked both origin and destination. For electrical plant the survey reads the installation as much as the asset. We confirm how the unit is fed and who can isolate it, whether the move can happen with the rest of the board live or needs a planned outage, and what stored energy has to be discharged before work begins. We record the weight and lifting points from the rating plate, the floor loading at each rest point along the route a transformer or genset will travel, doorway and plant-room clearances for the skating gear, and whether a roof opening or crane lift is needed to extract the unit. At destination we check the foundation or plinth, the earthing provision, the cooling and ventilation a running genset needs, and the services that must be live before the asset lands. For oil-filled units we confirm bowser access and a route for the drained oil. The output is a written method statement carrying the isolation sequence, the oil-handling plan, the lift detail and any Free Zone approvals. The free survey underpins every quote, and for a UAE site we can usually arrange it within a working day or two of your enquiry.
Genset replaced at a facility without losing supply
A facility upgrading its standby provision from a 1,000 kVA set to a larger unit, where the building could not lose its backup for more than a single planned window. The coordinator built the programme around the outage: the old set was isolated, fuel and coolant drained, lifted out through a roof opening and skated clear, the new set landed on the existing plinth with fresh anti-vibration mounts, and the ATS interface was remade to the recorded wiring. The earthing was measured before re-energisation and the set commissioned onto load inside the window.
Distribution transformer relocated across the Emirate
A 1,600 kVA oil-filled distribution transformer moving to a new substation room across the Emirate. The coordinator had the unit isolated, locked off and proved dead, the oil drained to a sealed bowser and a dielectric sample drawn before travel, and the bushings and Buchholz relay protected for the road leg. At destination the transformer was set on its plinth, refilled and allowed to settle, the oil re-tested to confirm breakdown voltage, and a ratio test and insulation-resistance check signed off before it was put back on the board.
Switchgear and UPS room move into a Free Zone unit
A move of an LV switchboard, an MCC and a static UPS with its battery string into a Free Zone unit, where the gate-pass documentation had to be filed before the kit could enter. The coordinator handled the zone paperwork alongside the plan, had the withdrawable breakers racked out and crated separately, the battery string broken to a safe transport voltage, and the cubicles moved upright on skates. The boards were set plumb and the busbar links remade at destination, and the UPS bank rebuilt to its recorded configuration before commissioning.
Swapping a standby genset without leaving the building without backup is the part that worries you, and they planned it properly. The old set came out through a roof opening, the new one landed on the plinth with new anti-vibration mounts, and the earthing was measured before anything was energised. The coordinator held the whole thing to a single outage window and commissioned it onto load with time to spare.
Moving an oil-filled transformer is not a lift, it is an oil job with a lift attached. The coordinator had it isolated and proved dead, drained the oil to a bowser, sampled it, and at the other end refilled, settled and re-tested before the ratio and insulation checks. The test sheets came back with the unit and it went onto the board first attempt. This is the firm I would call for electrical plant.
The Free Zone gate pass for the UPS batteries came through later than I expected and held one crate at the gate for part of an afternoon. To be fair, the coordinator had flagged the battery classification as the likely snag and re-sequenced the work so the crew built the switchboard and racked the breakers while we waited, so the room itself lost no time. The isolation, the upright handling and the commissioning were all done by the book. I would use them again.
Frequently asked questions — generator and transformer relocation
Do you drain and refill the oil on a transformer move?
Yes. An oil-filled transformer is drained to a sealed bowser before it travels, both to reduce weight and to stop a full tank stressing the bushings and Buchholz relay on the road. A dielectric sample is drawn and logged before draining. At destination the unit is refilled, allowed to settle, and the oil is re-tested for breakdown voltage and moisture — filtered or dried if the figures call for it — before the transformer is re-energised. Dry-type and cast-resin units carry no oil and skip this stage.
Can you handle a transformer or genset on a live system?
The asset itself is always made dead before we work on it — isolated, locked off, proved dead, with earths applied and stored energy discharged. Where it sits on a board that has to stay energised for the rest of the building, a competent electrician works to a permit so only the relevant section is isolated while the unit comes out. We do not work on energised equipment; we work safely around an energised installation, which is a planned, certificated part of the method statement.
Does the generator go indoors or outdoors at the new site?
Either, and the survey settles it. An indoor set needs a plant room with the ventilation and exhaust routing to carry its heat and fumes, and access wide enough to skate it in. An outdoor or containerised set needs a plinth, weather protection and a fuel arrangement. In both cases we confirm the foundation, the anti-vibration mounting and the earthing before the set lands, because those are what let it run without walking or fatiguing its connections.
Do you decommission and isolate the equipment, or do we?
We can handle the decommissioning and isolation as part of the scope, working to a permit with a competent electrician, or we co-ordinate with your own authorised person or the OEM where a warranty or service contract requires it. Either way the isolation sequence — lock off, prove dead, apply earths, discharge stored energy — is written into the method statement and signed before any disconnection begins.
What testing is done before the equipment is put back into service?
Re-energisation follows a controlled procedure. For transformers that means insulation-resistance testing, a turns-ratio test, earth-continuity and earth-resistance checks, and oil re-testing on oil-filled units, followed by a staged re-energisation onto load. Gensets are checked for earthing, then run up and brought onto load. Switchgear and UPS systems are tested to their commissioning schedule. Where the OEM or your authorised contractor must witness the commissioning, that is built into the plan and the signed test sheets are handed over with the asset.
How do you protect a large transformer in transit?
Once drained, the tank is sealed for transport — under a nitrogen or sealed condition where the design calls for it — and the bushings, conservator and Buchholz relay are protected against knock damage. The unit travels upright, secured against shock and tilt, and an impact recorder can be fitted where the value or sensitivity of the transformer warrants it. Dry-type units are guarded at the winding faces and HV terminals and kept dry, since moisture on the resin is as much a risk as a physical knock.
Can you move electrical plant into or out of a Free Zone, and handle customs?
Yes. Free Zone exits and entries — JAFZA, DAFZA, KIZAD and others — need zone gate-pass documentation alongside any customs declaration, and we file it before the work date is locked. Battery systems in particular can attract extra scrutiny, so we flag the classification early. Where plant is being imported, we confirm the Dubai Customs HS code first: electrical machinery such as transformers and switchgear sits under HS Chapter 85, and misclassification is the commonest cause of a clearance hold.
How quickly can you survey a generator or transformer move?
For a UAE site, usually within a working day or two of your enquiry, and often the same week for an urgent move. An electrical survey reads the installation as well as the asset — how it is fed, who can isolate it, whether the board can stay live — so allow time at both ends for that. Tell us what is moving and where, and the coordinator or a colleague will arrange a window.
Explore the rest of our machinery moving work
Generator and transformer relocation is one strand of our wider machinery moving service, and the engineering detail behind every move is set out on the methodology page. If your plant is leaving the country, our corridor guides cover exporting machinery and industrial equipment to the United Kingdom and to India.
Ready to relocate a generator or transformer?
Send us the asset list, the destination, and the deadline. One of our team will come back to you with a survey window and a methodology brief within a working day.
Questions people ask about this service
Anything not covered here? A specialist is happy to talk it through.
Contact usHow do I get a quote for this service?
Use the step-by-step quote form — it takes about a minute — or call us directly. Every quote is free, itemised and with no obligation.
Is my shipment insured?
Transit insurance is available on every service. Your coordinator will explain the cover options when quoting so you can choose what suits the shipment.
How far ahead should I book?
Two to four weeks is comfortable for most jobs, but we regularly handle urgent work. The sooner you reach out, the more flexibility you have on dates.
Do you handle the paperwork and customs?
Yes — where a service involves customs or documentation, we prepare and submit it on your behalf and keep you updated at each stage.
Will I have one point of contact?
Always. A dedicated coordinator owns your job from first quote to completion — no call centre, no being passed around.