Network renewal in Clare

It could be said that ESB history is repeating itself in Clare. Approximately 80 years ago, the Germans, assisted by an Irish workforce, were creating history by constructing the massive engineering feat at Network renewal in Clare Ardnacrusha Power Station - what came to be known as the mighty Shannon Scheme. Today, eight decades later, German, British, Polish, Portuguese, Serbian and Bosnian linesmen are working with Irish staff to refurbish the networks in Clare.

A lot has changed in the area since then. At that time Clare was mainly a rural farming community. But today towns like Liscannor, Lahinch, Ennisytmon, Kilkee, Killaloe, Shannon, not to mention the county town of Ennis, have grown out of all proportion and are themselves thriving urban areas in their own right.

To meet this phenomenal growth it was necessary to refurbish an overhead distribution system that was originally built in the late 40s/early 50s. ESB Networks is now nearing the completion of this programme that involved virtually the whole of the county and part of south Galway.

The ESB Controller for Networks on the job is Aenas O'Connor. Other Network Services staff, including local Operations NTs and Area Manager Senan Colleran, have also been very supportive of the programme.

On our visit to Clare we met the ESB Networks Project Supervisor, Michael O'Grady, along with the NTs carrying out interface activities: Dermot Fitzgerald, Dermot McDonnell and Pat Keating. Michael explained that about 150 contractor personnel in total were involved in this programme in Clare, with the first switchout commencing on April 13th 2004. The main contractor involved in the work is SAG-EL. Safety is paramount, with all staff working to both ESB and HSA standards. With Michael we met Vitor Moreira, a Portuguese worker who is now two years in Ireland. Vitor says the main difference between here and his homeland is that poles in Portugal are concrete and a lot of the work is done with mechanical assistance. "This has been a good experience. We are working in very different terrain - bog and forestry."

Michael O'Grady says that the contractors took on board all of the safety requirements and brought their own experience to the job. "A lineworker is a lineworker no matter where he is and these staff already had utility experience. They have been extremely courteous to landowners and have been well able to handle the pressure of daily switch-outs. It has been a great learning experience for everyone, finding new ways of doing work and obtaining skills that will serve people well in ESB Networks over the years to come."

However, the work could never have been completed without all the back room support in Limerick, Portlaoise and Dublin by Networks staff. The team on-site are also highly complimentary of their colleagues in other parts of the organisation.

The contracting staff have a great command of the English language and love the countryside around Mountshannon, which is on the shores of Lough Derg. They live locally and while they appear not to mind the rain they say they do find the wind harder to work in

The MV work in this area has involved approximately 7,000 kms of line, the replacing of cross-arms and poles, reconducturing and substituting of copper for aluminium, particularly along the west coast, which is exposed to the Atlantic weather. The programme is expected to be completed midsummer of this year and will leave an asset that will have a life span of 40 years into the future. It will be followed by an equivalent programme on the LV system. The ESB Networks team will complete this job knowing that they have left the people of Clare and South Galway a system which is now fit to meet the complex demands of a modern society. EM