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23
ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
February/March 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Executive Director carries out Site Safety Audit at Cathaleen’s Fall
A SITE SAFETY audit of the refurbishment project at Cathaleen’s Fall Power Station in Ballyshannon took place in December during a visit to Donegal by ESB Services and Electric Ireland Executive Director Bríd Horan.
The Cathaleen’s Fall Power Station comprises two 22.5 MW Kaplan hydro generators. The station was constructed in the late 1940s and was commissioned in 1951. In 2008, ESB undertook the extensive refurbishment of the two units and associated C&I and common electrical plant. This was the first major refurbishment works involving turbine removal carried out in Erne in its 60 year history. Generation Overhaul Group assigned a project team to Ballyshannon which comprised staff from both Generation Operations and ESB International.
The works on the first machine, Erne Unit 4, commenced in 2010 and were carried out whilst the second machine, Unit 3, remained on load. Once Unit 4 works and testing were complete, the unit was returned to operation in July 2011, whilst works then commenced on Unit 3.
At this time, Unit 3 works are progressing well with the turbine returned to site from the main contractor’s workshop and installed before Christmas 2011. The focus for the project is to complete the reassembly works and return the unit to service in May of this year.
Bríd was given a detailed tour of Cathaleen’s Fall and spoke to a number of station and project staff. She carried out an extensive safety audit and gained a good understanding of the safety management systems. Generation Operations procedures and processes used to carry out the overhaul were explained and, because of the opportune current status of the overall project, it was possible to show the completed Unit 4 whilst also observing the works in progress on Unit 3.
Bríd complimented both station and project teams for the successful works and excellent safety record to date.
Successful ET&R over-the-counter trading event
ENERGY TRADING and Regulation (ET&R) took part in the fourth over-the-counter (OTC) trading event on Wednesday January 11th.
The OTC Trading platform developed by Tullett Prebon is the first screen-based bilateral trading platform for the Single Electricity Market (SEM) in Ireland. It is a significant enhancement to the traditional power auction process which allows generators and suppliers lock in forward power prices rather than be exposed to the price volatility of the pool.
The OTC allows traders to offer and bid for financial swap contracts and continue to adjust those bids and offers until they are matched. All deals are executed anonymously on the platform and the counterparty is only identified once a deal is struck. It is anticipated that the OTC will continue to evolve and ultimately become the primary vehicle for power trading in the SEM.
OTC is a new trading process for ET&R and its implementation required the development of new trading operations and processes involving participation from all staff across ET&R.
A number of senior managers including Chief Executive Pat O’Doherty, Energy International Executive Director John McSweeney and Asset Development Manager Paddy Hayes, visited ET&R to observe the progress of the OTC event. Viewing took place in the conference room where dynamic movements in bids and offers could be viewed in real-time without distracting the traders.
Pat O’Doherty expressed his satisfaction that OTC Trading was now an established part of the Irish power market and commended ET&R for its significant role in making this happen.
OTC Event In Numbers:
2-Hour Event
385 Bids/Offers Submitted
56 Trades Executed
222 GWh Traded
€15m Power Sold
Sustainability review 2011
LOOKING BACK ON 2011 in ESB Energy International, we can report another year of major achievements in sustainability.
Webex
The use of Webex has continued to grow at a fast pace. Up to the end of November, total ESB usage in minutes was 991,439, in comparison to 497,661 in 2010. In Energy International, we recorded 105,954 minutes of Webex use in 2010. This increased to 340,127 in 2011 - a total increase of more than 220%, which was well above the 100% target set at the beginning of the year.
Energy Use (Electrical)
Where metered, energy use has again recorded decreases during 2011. In Stephen Court, total energy reduction was 14.3% on 2010 and the Cork office delivered a 10% reduction.
Water
Water monitoring was installed in some station and office locations in 2011 and we will soon establish a baseline for target reductions in coming years.
Waste
In offices, a target of recycling 80% of waste was set. This target was not achieved, with Head Office at 74% and Stephen Court at 64%.
However, waste weights were down significantly, with the total at Fleet Street falling to 77% of 2010’s figure and the Cork office annual total was at 88% of the previous year. It remains a challenge in 2012 to achieve the 80% recycling target in the larger office locations. Recycling targets at generating stations, similarly, were a challenge with recycling levels expected to be short of the 75% of waste target.
Sustainability E-Learning module
A target of 50% of Energy International staff participating in sustainability e-learning was set for 2011. Despite a very slow start, the end of year figures show that this goal was attained.
Sustainability Awards
Of the 12 shortlisted entries for ESB Sustainability Awards, eight were from Energy International with the eventual winner being Rousch. Congratulations once again to them and all the other excellent entries.
Looking ahead to 2012
After the good achievements recorded in 2011, we will be setting more challenging targets for this year in the coming weeks. We would like to thank all staff for their co-operation during the year. Each person can contribute a small amount (turning out lights, turning off computers, correct use of waste stations, etc), which makes a difference in the long run.
