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GENERATION & WHOLESALE MARKETS
October/November 2012 www.esb.ie/em
The land of the rising sun
We catch up with ESB’s Dara Connolly who is on secondment with Osaka Gas in Japan.
AS I APPROACH the half-way point of this extraordinary year, it’s a good moment to reflect on all that has happened so far and on what I hope to achieve before I return to Ireland next year. Working at Osaka Gas has been hugely educational for me. I have been lucky enough to have colleagues who accepted me onto their team and helped me to find my feet from day one. Working in the overseas assets department (which is responsible, among other investments, for Amorebieta power station in Spain, owned in 50-50 joint venture with ESB) has been a very good opportunity to learn about electricity and gas markets in different parts of the world.
No less important has been the opportunity to experience the many facets of Japan’s fascinating culture. From cherry-blossom viewing to New Year’s celebrations, Japanese traditions are very strongly bound to the changing seasons.
The o-Bon festival in August is a time to honour and remember those who have passed away. The area in front of our local shrine was hung with red-and-white lanterns and the whole community came out after dark to dance the ‘Bon odori’ in traditional Japanese dress.
Now, as the rice fields turn from green to gold and harvest time rolls around, it’s time for the autumn festivals, which can get very rowdy as huge, elaborate floats are carried or wheeled through the narrow streets.
The next challenge for me is a Japanese-language exam, coming up in December. Getting to grips with the Japanese language, and the complexity of its writing system, is never easy or quick, but perseverance brings its own sense of achievement.
Policy
Following last year’s nuclear accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi, in the north-east of the country, the Japanese government has been carrying out a review of national energy policy. The new policy will have balance considerations of safety and public unease with those of energy security and cost.
The outcome of the review is that the government intends to phase out nuclear power completely by 2030, and to greatly increase the amount of renewable energy (mainly solar and wind). This represents a major reversal from the earlier policy, where nuclear power was seen as a vital contribution to the country’s energy supply, amounting to around 30% of the total electricity requirement.
LNG
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Osaka Gas LNG terminal at Himeji. Japan imports its natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in huge specialised tanker ships from South-East Asia and the Middle East. At the LNG terminals, the LNG is unloaded from the ships into storage tanks and turned from liquid to gas using seawater. In the process, electricity is generated by means of a unique cryogenic Rankine cycle, making use of the cold energy of the LNG which is stored at -160°C. Efficiency is maximised by using the cooling water discharged from a nearby power station, which is a few degrees warmer than the sea water.
eCars blog launched!
Innovation
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Turlough Hill visit by State Minister of Home Affairs of Bangladesh
STATE MINISTER of Home Affairs of Bangladesh, Advocate Shamsul Hoque Tuku recently visited Turlough Hill Pumped Storage Station. The Minister, was eager to see a pumped storage station and check out if this type of generation could be applied in his home country, thoroughly enjoyed his visit to the plant. He was accompanied by family members and representatives from Ernst & Young (Muntasir Khaleik) and The Independent College Dublin (Brendan Gainey).
Tom Moran, Plant Manager, made a presentation to the group in relation to Turlough Hill and Mick Mackey from ESB International made a presentation in relation to the services available from ESBI. The group walked down to the cavern visiting the generator hall and Hydro Control Centre before taking a trip to the upper reservoir high in the Wicklow Mountain above the Glendalough Valley.
ESBEI Mid Year Safety Award
THE 2012 ESBEI Safety Awards aim to recognise significant achievement in the area of Health & Safety. The purpose is to give recognition to all groups, locations, projects and stations that go beyond their normal requirements to drive health and safety initiatives within their part of the organisation.
These awards are open to all parts of ESBEI. Merit awards will to be presented twice yearly, from the June and December submissions. An overall winner will be selected from the top nominations and will receive an award at the January Safety Conference.
The July submissions included nominations from across the business. The review committee was challenged in selecting the winners due to the very high calibre of entries. The nominations were judged against the following criteria:
- Initiatives from SIP, Health & Safety Plans
- Improved safety performance
- Excellence in reporting
- Communication / shared learning
- Excellence in incident reporting
- Improvement in risk assessment process
- Health & wellbeing
- Contractor management
- Improved safety culture
- Individual input to safety
The review committee would like to congratulate the following six winners who will be presented with merit awars:
- Irma Murni representing Kulim
- Adman, a contractor working on Asset Development projects
- Coolkeeragh
- Turlough Hill/Liffey stations
- Powerteam (ESBI)
- Bahrain
A huge congratulations to all the winners, who have truly demonstrated the commitment and emphasis on driving safety in their area of the business or on a project. Also, thank you to all those who submitted entries.
Submissions are now being received for the second part of this year. If you feel your area deserves recognition for the significant effort/safety improvements you have undertaken, why not take the time to submit an entry. Remember, there will be another opportunity to have your safety achievements recognised in December.
Entries can be submitted to olive.carey@esbi.ie by the 28th November 2012
