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Aug/Sept 2010 www.esb.ie/em 
ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
Sustainability Update
GENERATION OPERATIONS
Sustainability awards scheme
Congratulations to Moneypoint, Erne Stations, and the ET&R sustainability group on their Sustainability Awards. The judges were very impressed by the visibility of sustainability projects progressing on the ground, the inclusion of large numbers of motivated staff, the documentation of activity in Sustainability Improvement Plans on SharePoint, and the involvement of the local community.
We would encourage all sustainability groups within the business unit to keep up the good work and we would hope to have more groups represented at next year's awards which will be launched in the Autumn.
Micro wind generator Project
CATHALEEN’S FALL Generating Station in Ballyshannon successfully completed the installation of a micro wind-generator on Thursday July 1st. The generator will provide renewable energy to offset the energy consumption of the station buildings. Congratulations to all those involved in the successful implementation of this project.
School visits Ballyshannon
A GROUP OF transition year students from Coláiste Cholmcille recently visited Ballyshannon to present sustainability projects that they had completed as part of their year-long programme. In all, three projects were presented on: Sustainable Transport; Sustainability in the school; Sustainable commuting options for pupils and teachers.
The standard of the presentations was excellent and it was very evident that a significant amount of time and research had been spent on them. Following the presentations the students were treated to refreshments and the winning teams were presented with an award by Mick Downey, Sustainability.
Coláiste Cholmcille is a large secondary school in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal with over 670 students and 60 teachers. Currently, the school is involved in:
- Recycling of paper, cans, plastic, magazines, clothes, ink cartridges, batteries, and mobile phones.
- Composting organic waste.
- Monitoring the amount of waste going to landfill and recyclables collected
- Implementing a garden plan that assigns small groups of students to individual sections of the school garden, which features benches and bird feeders made in woodwork class, as well as planted trees, hedges and flowers.
School children join in ESB Turlough Hill environment initiative
GENERATION OPERATIONS
PUPILS from Scoil Chaoimhín Naofa in Laragh, near Glendalough in County Wicklow, designed a new mural that now adorns the tunnel at ESB's Turlough Hill Pumped Storage Station.
The Rang 5 and Rang 6 pupils were invited by the station safety committee to take part in a project aimed at promoting the themes of ‘Safety’, ‘Environment’, ‘Equality’ and ‘Diversity’.
The children were present with their teacher, Miss Ann Savage, to attend an unveiling at the station high in the Wicklow mountains on Thursday, 24th June, where presentations were made to the pupils by Plant Manager Tom Moran who welcomed them to Turlough Hill.
The idea was mooted by the Safety Committee at the plant and was spearheaded by Simon Carroll. Together with his colleague Rory Doyle, who is attached to the Civil Works Department at the station, the pair invited the school to produce art work that would reflect the four selected themes.
Members of Bray Rowing Club, some of whom are also budding artists, were then invited to paint the children's designs on the actual wall of the entrance tunnel leading down to the underground power station.
The result is an amazing mural that encompasses care of the local environment in the Glendalough valley, the importance of safety and the embracing of equality and diversity in our everyday lives.
“These values are the core of what we do on a daily basis
“We are very conscious of our duty in relation to the environment, particularly given our locations in this beautiful valley of Glendalough and the areas around Blessington Lakes,” said Tom Moran addressing the group. “At all times we must seek to protect these areas whose beauty is world renowned.”
ESB Energy International Executive Director Pat O’Doherty paid tribute to the children and outlined to them ESB's values on safety, environment and equality and diversity. He told them, “These values are the core of what we do on a daily basis in ESB and I think it is wonderful to see children take on board their importance at such a young age. It bodes well for future society that you have captured the messages so well in relation to our need to protect all aspects of our relationships with people and the environment.”
To thank them for their efforts, ESB EI presented the school with two picnic tables with umbrellas for their garden and presented Bray Rowing Club with additional life jackets.
Launch of real-time portal
//esbnetapps/goportal
GENERATION OPERATIONS
GENERATION Operations recently launched the first phase of its new real-time information portal. This application is one of a number of initiatives being introduced to improve the commercial performance of the Generation Operations portfolio. Commercial performance of stations is vital for the financial performance of the business in what is a very competitive market.
The main ambition of the Generation Operations Portal is to provide a single access point to technical and commercial information, enabling real-time decisions that will lead to improved portfolio performance.
The first phase of the Portal project focussed on providing appropriate information to plant operations team members and managers at the unit level.
Phase one of the Portal is becoming a key enabler, facilitating penalties reduction and maximising income from Generation Operations activities in the Single Electricity Market (SEM). One of the Portal's unique features is the ability to combine technical and market data to display predicted commercial performance in real-time.
With the successful completion of the first phase, plans are already underway to expand and enhance the portal and a wider range of additional functionality and information will be introduced before the end of 2010.
It is envisaged that future releases will be fully integrated into the redeveloped Generation Operations intranet site which is currently under construction.
Commenting on the new Portal, Donal Crean, Production Manager, Generation Operations said, “We are delighted with the launch of this initiative, effective use of real-time information is key to enhancing our commercial performance and it is very important that this tool is used on a real-time basis by staff across Generation Operations.”
Generation Operations users can access the system via http://esbnetapps/goportal.
