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October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Innovation
Poolbeg Beekeeping project.
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ESBI Bahrain 110km milestone
A MAJOR project currently being undertaken by the ESBI Bahrain team is the 220kV and 66kV Transmission Development, which involves the construction of 40 new high-voltage substations and the installation of over 400km of underground 220kV and 66kV cables.
The ESBI Bahrain team is currently involved in a major project, the 220kV and 66kV Transmission Development, which involves the construction of 40 new high-voltage substations and the installation of over 400km of underground 220kV and 66kV cables.
A main pillar of the 220kV contract is the construction and installation of 220kV underground circuits from the new Ad Dur Power Plant in the south of Bahrain. The offloading of power supply from this 1,200MW gas fired power station to the national grid was a high priority for the Kingdom of Bahrain, says Resident ESBI Cables Engineer John Kelly.
“The cable trenching works proved challenging across desert sand, hard rock, industrial areas and oil fields,” says John. “Non-disruptive directional drilling was also a feature while crossing under King Hamad Highway. Given the strict timelines, ESBI initiated transition from cast in-situ concrete joint bays to a single pre-cast unit saving substantial construction time on site.”
The first feeder from Ad Dur 220kV substation to Madinat Hamad substation was energised in May 2010. Further circuits were installed and currently six new 220kV circuits are in service. The Ad Dur plant is located in the desert south of the island and the capital Manama is located to the north, so the resulting cable lengths were considerable, ranging 15-25km each. So far, more than 110km of trenching and cable installation works have been completed.
The ESBI Bahrain Cables Team was pleased to achieve the tight deadlines in time for the official opening of the Ad Dur Power Plant and Desalination Facility by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during April 2012.
ESBI appointed to manage relocation project in South Africa
ESBI HAS been appointed by the South African utility Eskom to provide engineering and project management services for a major transmission-based project in South Africa.
The project involves the relocation of a number of open cycle gas turbine power plants to a single site, where they will provide back-up for a nuclear power plant and address congestion on the grid.
To ensure continuity of supply, the plants will be moved in a carefully controlled sequence, with some units having to be moved more than once. At least one of the units will be transported across a distance of more than 1,000km.
ESBI acted as design authority during an earlier stage of the project and was responsible for preparing specifications and tender documents.
Student’s site visit to Carrickatane Wind Farm
A GRADUATE in ESB’s 2012 summer placement programme, Seán O’Connor, was given the opportunity to visit Carrickatane Wind Farm during his assignment with ESBI’s Wind Energy Solutions (WES).
During his visit, Sean witnessed effective site safety management, leading edge civil foundation design and effective stakeholder management as examples of ESBI’s commitment to high standards on site.
Located 6km south east of New Buildings, Co. Derry, the Carrickatane Wind Farm site will consist of nine Siemens SWT 2.3MW wind turbines, connecting into the electricity network at Killymallaght 110kV substation. The total generation capacity will be 20.7MW, enough electricity for 9,000 homes.
Creating a positive safety culture on site is a core ESBI value, as demonstrated by Adrian Quigley, WES Project Manager for Carrickatane. “During the busy transitional phase between the civil construction completion and the beginning of the turbine erection which started in early August, there were 73 personnel on site. There have been over 46,000 man-hours worked on site to date with no lost-time incidents.” Adrian explained that this has been achieved through a system in which workers are encouraged to report good catches/near misses through site management behavioural safety audits and good safety reporting.
The civil works on the site was completed in July 2012 and, while inspecting the wind turbine foundations with Catherine O’Brien of ESBI’s Civil Engineering Design Team, it was explained to Seán how ESBI avoided potential quality issues and delays to the programme by using their strong expertise in foundation design. Catherine showed how thermocouples were used in the design to monitor temperature differentials across the concrete as it strengthened; this measure assessed the potential for crack formation. Best practice grouting and sealing systems were used between the foundations and the tower to ensure that this vital interface would not be compromised over the life of the project.
With so many contractors on site during the construction phase, it is essential that excellent coordination and communication took place between all parties. To ensure this happens, ESBI works with Adman, the site’s principal contractor, to ensure a rigorous permitting system is in place for any works as well as mandatory daily meetings involving all contractors (Adman, Powerteam and Siemens) to discuss and co-ordinate activities for the following day, explained ESBI Site Manager Ed Fitzgerald explained.
Community stakeholder management is another priority at the wind farm: at Carrickatane there are nine neighbouring landowners, four public road landowners, plus local authorities and the general local community, who all wish to be kept informed about activities at the wind farm. Customised information leaflets have been developed and are distributed to keep the local community up-to-date. ESBI takes on a role of landowner liaison and ensures that any issues raised by the landowners and local authorities are dealt with in a timely manner.
The Carrickatane Wind Farm is due to start commercial operations in early 2013 and will be a notable addition towards achieving ESB’s agreed renewable energy targets.
Recent Graduations in ESBI High Voltage
