Property & Asset Recovery Commercial Group

Department established to manage the ESB Power Generation property portfolio including the demolition of closed stations.

Property & Asset Recovery (PAR) which is part of Commercial Group, Power Generation was established to manage the PG property portfolio including the demolition of closed stations. In so doing surplus sites are identified, cleared, remediated and brought to disposal thereby releasing capital back to the business unit. PAR has three main functions;

Demolition of closed stations
Since the 1990's ESB has closed 12 power stations. 11 of these were peat stations and 1 coal/oil station. Each of these stations had reached the end of its life and needed to be demolished in order for ESB to maximise the value of the site. PAR has been involved in 10 of these demolitions commencing with Portarlington in 1997 right up to Bellacorick and Shannonbridge which are currently in progress. For each station the process commences as the station is closed with a formal decommissioning and hand over of the site. This is to ensure that many of the hazards on the site are eliminated and that full knowledge of them is passed on to the PAR project team. All chemicals and oils remaining on site are removed and any confidential or historical documentation is recovered and archived. A full intrusive asbestos survey of the plant is carried out. A detailed risk assessment of the site is then carried out and control measures including security are installed. The tendering process for a specialist demolition contractor then commences. Tendering is limited to contractors with previous experience in the demolition of cooling towers, concrete chimneys and large structural steel buildings.

The demolition work involves the removal of all subsidiary buildings and plant before the final main structures, boilers, chimneys and cooling towers etc are demolished using explosives. The purpose of the explosives is to remove small pre-weakened sections of the main structure supports in order to allow the structure to fall in a particular direction under gravity.

Safety is a prime concern in the work. Demolition work by its nature can be dangerous. Through the hard work of our staff and our contractors there has only been 1 lost time accident to date during the entire demolition programme. In March, the Shannonbridge demolition site was subject of an external OHSAS audit and zero non-conformances were found. This again highlights the high safety standards being maintained by site Supervisors in conjunction with the main contractor Robinson &Birdsell Ltd.

A priority for the project was to establish a clearance standard that the project could work to achieve. TNO of the Netherlands, Pat Colman, Manager ESB Chemistry and PAR derived what is now known as the 'Asbestos Safe' standard. This standard requires that all land to be declared asbestos safe must have no visible asbestos and that the concentration of asbestos in soil is less than 0.1% w/w. This standard has been accepted by the EPA and has been presented at international conferences.

The next priority for the project was to employ a specialist contractor and an independent QA/QC company. Robinson & Birdsell Ltd of Leeds and URS Ireland Ltd were engaged to fulfil these roles. The work at all times is supervised by a PAR supervisor. A chemical technician is based on site to provide constant air monitoring services.

The work methods employed include sifting of soil, raking of soil, hand picking of asbestos, direct bagging of soil and where possible mechanical screening. This method has been very successful with all sites remediated to date achieving an asbestos safe standard. In fact it has been acknowledged by TNO that the standard of work far exceeds the asbestos safe standard and that of the new TNO standard of 0.01% w/w. This achievement has allowed the sites to be sold or re-used thereby contributing to sustainability aims of ESB.

All the soil and materials contaminated with asbestos are exported to licensed sites in Germany using a specialist asbestos disposal company.

The highest standards of safety are employed on the sites and in the last 8 years of remediation work there has not been a single lost day accident on site which is a tribute to all involved, particularly the PAR Site Supervisors. The project which is managed by PAR Project Manager is nearing an end and the final sites at Arigna, Rhode and LanESBoro will be complete by March 2010.

Management of the PG Property Portfolio
Historically PAR has been responsible for managing closed power stations sites from the point of closure, through the demolition and remediation phases and ultimately resulting in disposal in accordance with the Brownfield Policy. This process has worked well and has been completed for stations such as Screebe, Portarlington, Allenwood, Ferbane and Cahirciveen. All former PG lands at these locations have now been disposed off. Other closed sites such as Arigna, LanESBoro, Shannonbridge, Bellacorick, Rhode, Ringsend and Gweedore are at various stages in the process. The management of these closed sites involves issues such as security, fencing, public access, IPPCL, local authority concerns, planning and zoning issues, interaction with local communities and our colleagues in Networks and ESB Telecoms. PAR staff also play an important role in ensuring value for money on all key framework contracts, e.g. security, fencing etc.

In addition to the closed sites PAR has a key role to play in the ongoing management and security of ESB Power Generation's significant and widely dispersed land portfolio. The acreage of the Hydro portfolio alone covers an area of circa 16,000 acres over six locations across the country. The active thermal stations have a more contained property footprint but access and boundary issues also exist at those locations.

Over the last two years PAR has carried out an extensive review of sites across the portfolio. The review identified issues that must be addressed as a matter of priority to ensure that ESB's assets are adequately protected. In the coming year members of PAR will be working with our colleagues in Shared Services and Stations to ensure the completion of the property review at all locations. This will include digital mapping of all properties, registration of all lands, erection of appropriate fencing and signage and resolution of all high risk property matters including adverse possession cases. Lands surplus to requirements will also be identified and disposed of to achieve best commercial return. We are very grateful to all our station contacts, particularly those in the Hydro stations without whom this work would not be possible.