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GENERATION & WHOLESALE MARKETS

February/March 2014 • www.esb.ie/em

ESB Generation receives PAS 55 certification

LLOYDS REGISTER, auditors for this certification process, has confirmed to Grainne O'Shea, ESB's PAS 55 Project Manager that ESB Generation have achieved this accreditation.

This asset management specification primarily looks at the management of the physical assets of a company. Two intensive audits were carried out as part of the accreditation process; the first in September 2013 which looked at the ESB Generation Head Office processes and the second in November 2013 looking at how these processes are implemented in the Generating Stations.

The Generating Stations currently covered under this accreditation are Aghada, Lough Ree Power, West Offaly, Corby Power and Dublin Bay Power. It is planned to achieve PAS 55 for the full Generation portfolio, including wind, during 2014. Congratulations to all involved in achieving this accreditation.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS AT COOLKEERAGH

It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed since the staff of FMUK, Coolkeeragh, first gathered together at Lusty Beg Island, Co. Fermanagh. This was the first time most of the team had ever met and the Coolkeeragh Plant was still in the early stages of construction. While some members of the original team have moved on the majority of the staff pictured still work at Coolkeeragh with a number moving to roles in other parts of ESB including ESB Trading, O&M Renewables and ESB International.

ESB Trading Sing for Simon

A group from ESB Trading headed to Grafton Street on Thursday December 19th for the annual Sing for Simon carol singing event. While it was a cold and wet evening the group of 20 sang their hearts out which resulted in 2,700 collected for Dublin Simon Community

ESB Aghada sponsors fish tracking project

The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a large marine fish (up to 100cm) found in coastal waters down to 100m in depth. They are an iconic species amongst anglers and very important to local tourism in Cork and other regions. They were almost wiped out in the 1980s and are now Ireland's only protected fish species. It is believed they enter coastal waters and estuaries during spring and summer and then migrate offshore to deeper water in winter. However very little is really known about their movements!

ESB AGHADA has funded a two-year project to track the movement of sea bass in the Cork Harbour Region. The project is led by the Coastal and Marine Research Centre (CMRC) of UCC in close collaboration with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the local angling community.

Many of the staff in Aghada have a strong affinity with the sea and the harbour. Many fish for sea bass already and know all the good fishing spots! With this in mind local staff have volunteered to aid this very important project. Pat Wall and Ciaran Fitzgerald in particular have got involved with CMRC and have worked tirelessly to inform and educate local fishermen and school children about the project.

The 14 fish tagged during 2013 survived the initial tagging process and beyond. Also, when you consider the storms we have had recently it was with great relief that all our receivers were still in the harbour. EM will report back on this exciting study once more information has been released by Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The project is a showcase for different groups such as the Costal & Marine Research Centre, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the local angling community working together to improve our understanding in order to conserve and project this important species. The ESB sponsorship and local staff volunteering is a great example of the current ESB Sustainabil-ity Strategy in action.

Like to find out more? Check out the following websites and Facebook account: Fishing Ireland: http://bit.ly/1iMhNWJ, http://vemco.com/map-results. Photos: http://on.fb.me/LocqPf.

Overall Safety Excellence winners

Aghada Station was announced as Overall Safety Excellence winners at the G&WM Annual Safety Conference on January 30th. Pictured above (l-r) at the awards ceremony are Pat Wall; Jim Cashman; Paddy Hayes, Executive Director, G&WM; Liam Ring, Station Manager, Aghada; Terence Ryan; Mick 0'Connell and Paddy Fogarty.

Brewing up a storm

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