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ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
December 2011/January 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Dam Walkers stride to top 4 in Pedometer Challenge!
Generation Operations
DESPITE THE ‘DAM’ weather, a team in the Pedometer Challenge, braved wind, rain and the odd sunny day to train for the recent cross company event.
Aptly named ‘The Dam Walkers’, the team from Ardnacrusha was made up of Peter Gallagher, Mary O’Meara, Mary O’Donnell and Liz Horgan, who were joined by Jackie Power from Moneypoint
The Ardnacrusha group had commenced walking together in March of this year and decided to enter a team in the now established annual Pedometer Challenge. The enthusiastic group didn’t let rain or hail deter them and donning wet gear headed out each lunchtime covering a circuit around the Tailrace and back to the Power Station. Members individually added to their ‘steps’ by walking in the evenings and at weekends resulting in a total of 522,963 steps at the end of the challenge. This is the equivalent of marching from Limerick to Belfast – not bad by any standards!
The group highly recommends the exercise and, as well as keeping super fit, they are now also super slim! They intend to keep up the regime so watch out Pedometer Challenge 2012 – this team means business!
| DAM WALKERS | Ranking | No. of teams |
| Overall (all companies country wide) | 24th | 623 |
| ESB (all business areas) | 4th | 110 |
| ESBEI | 1st | 22 |
Team Development making a real difference
THE CENTRAL PROCUREMENT team in Energy International recently turned their hand to helping older members of the community as part of their team development day. This initiative has become an annual feature in Central Procurement’s calendar, and this year it was the elderly residents in the sheltered accommodation of Bulfin Court, Inchicore who benefited from their endeavours.
2011’s Team Development Day was dubbed “Spring Cleaning Day” and involved cleaning down worktops, doors, surrounds and windows in Bulfin Court. No task was too large or too small, including vacuuming, gardening and generally helping the elderly with any jobs they were struggling to get done themselves.
Interaction and chatting with residents of Bulfin Court was also a very important part of the day and it was abundantly clear that while many of the residents are elderly, they have lost none of their famous Dublin wit.
Dublin City Council was very appreciative of Central Procurement’s efforts, and Marty Clancy, Senior Community Officer said, “We are really delighted you enjoyed the day and are thrilled with the amount of worthwhile work you undertook. Each of you made a great impression on the residents who still talk about the hard work and fantastic spirit of the ESB team who made such a difference at Bulfin Court”.
The Team Development Day initiative, now in its third year, has been a tremendous success, and in previous years involved work for the Fr. Peter McVerry Centre in North County Dublin.
This year’s team members included Grace Simpson, Mick McGlynn, Fintan Colgan, Mark Harmon, Conor Foley, Padraig Egan, Martha Maher, Derek Fuller and Noel O’Dwyer, all from Central Procurement.
Appreciation
MANOHAR SINGH
IT IS WITH deep regret and sadness that we learned of the passing of Saini Manohar Singh, following a tragic road accident in Bahrain on Friday November 11th, 2011.
Manohar worked with ESBI Bahrain from June 2001 as a Site Engineer on High Voltage Cable Project Installations. He was a quiet family man and well respected by his colleagues in Bahrain. He is sadly missed by all.
Manohar, who came from India, was 58 years old and is survived by his wife and two married daughters.
May his soul rest in peace.
ESBI Engineer wins Chartered Engineer of the Year Award
ESBI
CONGRATULATIONS TO Louise Connolly, a consultant engineer with ESBI Engineering, who was named Chartered Engineer of the Year 2011 by Engineers Ireland. Louise, who, is the first female to win this prestigious award, won for her role in managing the development of a suitable routing for a 2.4 kilometre gas pipeline to connect a new 860MW CCGT power station at Carrington, near Manchester, to the UK national gas transmission system. The new plant, which is being developed by Carrington Power, is jointly owned by ESB and Carlton Power.
A particular feature of the challenge faced by Louise related to a 1km section of the pipeline route, which required a fundamental redesign following detailed site investigations. Louise oversaw a series of geotechnical, geophysical and environmental investigations relating to this section of the route, and used it to analyse the feasibility of alternative construction solutions, including the use of horizontal directional drilling.
Based on revised information, the pipeline was redesigned and virtually all the design documentation from the initial design was updated. Louise is now working on a tender package for the construction of the redesigned pipeline and a contract is expected to be placed in 2012.
Speaking after the awards ceremony hosted by Engineer’s Ireland, ESBI International Manager Ollie Brogan said, “Louise is a very deserving recipient of this award and we are extremely proud of her achievement. In an industry that is traditionally very male dominated, it is hugely significant to see this award going to a female for the first time. The award reflects not only Louise’s capability as an engineer but also her ability to communicate effectively on a very complex and technical subject.”
From Innishannon in Co. Cork, Louise graduated from Cork Institute of Technology in 2004 with an honours degree in mechanical engineering and joined ESB International as a graduate engineer. She is currently a consultant engineer in ESBI Engineering’s power plant department and works on Irish and international power plant and gas pipeline projects.
Sustainability top of the class for Midleton CBS
TWENTY-TWO STUDENTS from Midleton CBS Green Committee recently visited Aghada to learn more about the environment and sustainability. The plant’s Sustainability Group, who have recently set-up a sustainability program with local schools, met the boys and showed them videos and presentations on environmental protection and sustainability. A very good two-way question and answer session then followed with station staff Fiona Spellissy, Pat Wall, Michael Garde, Terry Cummins and plant manager Paul Smith. The group then made a tour of the plant where the Control Room Operators did their best to answer all the difficult questions put to them.
