EM - February/March 2015 - (Page 15)
15
Feb/March 2015 * www.esb.ie/em
Generation & Wholesale Markets
An insight into Asset Development
8 For the second part of our Insights series, we're taking a closer look at how we
bring energy opportunities to life with our Asset Development team.
Main purpose
Asset Development identifies and develops power generation investment
opportunities in the energy sector
across Ireland and the UK. These opportunities run across a wide range of
technologies, including CCGT, wind,
biomass and solar PV.
All of this activity supports ESB's
strategic goal of being a generation
business of scale, helping us be competitive when it comes to generation
capacity, renewables and the AllIslands market share.
Putting purpose into action
There are typically four phases in
the lifecycle of any generating asset -
Concept, Development, Construction
and Operation. See the diagram opposite for more details.
The first three phases are managed
by Asset Development and the assets
are handed over at the commercial operation stage to the Generation business, which manages them during the
operational phase.
This includes developing the business case for investment, developing
realistic construction costs through a competitive tendering process,
estimating market revenues and lifecycle Operations and Maintenance
costs. A comprehensive financial analysis of the business case with key
sensitivity analysis is crucial before seeking capital investment approval
from the ESB Board. This phase can typically take from 18 months (wind
projects) to 36 months (CCGT)
880MW rises from the ground at Carrington.
Woodhouse Windfarm progresses.
How the team manage the projects
All projects in Asset Development
are managed through a rigorous governance and management methodology called PDM (Project Delivery
Methodology), which was developed
in house in ESBI/ESB to manage large
capital generation projects based on
best industry practice. Asset Development is very much supported by
the expertise in ESBI Engineering,
Legal, Insurance, Procurement, Tax,
Property, Treasury, Finance and HR
functions within ESB, as well as our
colleagues in G&WM, throughout the
various project development stages.
Many projects do not make it
through any of the rigorous stages
above, particularly the Concept
phase. So the team is very focused on
building up the initial pipeline, making sure we can develop enough viable
projects to meet ESB's strategic generation needs. Asset Development also acquires other projects at various stages
CONSTRUCTION (From 18-40 months)
of their development cycle to complement ESB's own development pipeline
This includes issuing orders for the construction of the project based on
and slots these new projects into the
tendered prices, managing the construction and commissioning phases of the
appropriate stage of the development
project safely to time budget and quality, including conducting formal acceptance tests and bringing the project into commercial operation. This phase can
cycle.
typically take from 18 months (wind projects) to 40 months (CCGT).
Plus, the complex nature of these
projects makes this very much a longterm game - take a look at the diagram
opposite to get a feel for the timescales
OPERATION (20 PLUS YEARS)
involved in bringing projects to life, just
as an example.
This covers the operating life of a generating plant running to many years,
There are some exciting projects gofor example Moneypoint is almost 30 years in operation and Ardnacrusha is
86 years in operation.
ing through the earlier development
phases - watch this space for news over
the coming months!
The four phases of Asset Development in more detail.
By John O'Connor, Carrington
Programme Director
Keeping busy
* During the Christmas break, security and the house-keeping crew
continued to work, with the latter
focused on having the site ready
for the safe arrival back and gradual transition of activities for over
1,000 construction workers.
* The mechanical and electrical erection works continue - the installation of medium and low voltage
cables also progressed.
* We successfully tested the power
station earthing grid and the National Grid reviewed its design, approving the connection to the High
Voltage switchyard earthing grid.
* We also continued work on the
construction of the plant's cooling
water tower, which is a very signifi-
This includes early-stage business development work through to obtaining all of the consents necessary for a project, including obtaining land
options, the grid connection, planning permission and other licences such as
Integrated Pollution Control Licences (IPCL). This phase can take up to 10
years, with obtaining a grid connection being a particular challenge.
DEVELOPMENT (From 18-36 months)
Constructing Carrington:
our story continues
ESB Sustainability Awards
Many congratulations to everyone
at Carrington for winning the Environmental category award as part of
the overall 2014 Sustainability competition! Please see page 3 of EM for
more details about our win and the
Awards overall.
CONCEPT (UP TO 10 YEARS)
Coolkeeragh wins gold in
environmental survey
cant structure and takes up a large
footprint within the overall site.
Racking up the stats
Just looking back over 2014, we
have a number of interesting people-related achievements:
* 1,000 people on site
* Over 2,000,000 hrs completed
* 3 babies arrived
* 1 wedding
* 1 granddad
* 2 new staff from ESBI
* 5 graduates developed
* 2 hours 5 mins recorded in Dublin
City Marathon
* 3rd overall in the Manchester Night
Run.
Christmas Event
The site team really pulled out all the
stops during December and played a
major part in the City of Salford Lions Club Christmas dinner for 100
people from the local area. This was
a real success and our own in-house
Santa even made a guest appearance.
(See the ESB International section
for more details/pictures.) n
Constructing
the cooling
towers.
Aerial shot of
progress,
January
2015. (Photo
courtesy of
Alstom.)
Edward Wright, of Business in the Community, presents Alan Campbell, Coolkeeragh Plant Manager, with
a Gold Award for the plant's performance in an ARENA Northern Ireland environmental survey.
CB&I inspecting a
gas valve.
Cable installation
carried out by
Dornan electrical
contractors.
GWM's Coolkeeragh Power Station
recently received a Gold Award in
the 2014 Business in the Community
ARENA Northern Ireland environmental survey. Many congratulations
go to the team! This is an excellent
achievement, which recognises the
ongoing work and commitment of the
station to minimise the impact and
risk to the environment. The survey
looks at various aspects of how Coolkeeragh's business operates - from
day-to-day performance, longer-term
strategy and policy, and sustainability.
As ever, there is a focus on continuous improvement - the challenge for
the station now is to maintain the gold
standard for 2015. n
http://www.esb.ie/em
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - February/March 2015
News
Innovation
Generation & Wholesale Markets
BSC & Electric Ireland
EBS Networks Ltd
Health & Habitat
EM - February/March 2015
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