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Specialist engineering consultancy RVA Group has been appointed to support GDF SUEZ with the safe decommissioning and dismantling of its Teesside power station in North Yorkshire. The company was awarded the contract by GDF SUEZ following an extensive tendering process.

In its role as project managers and CDM co-ordinators and working closely with the client’s team, the first phase of RVA Group’s work on the 23 acre Teesside site has been to conduct hazard identification workshops, project definition studies and procurement specifications.

Commenting on the project RVA Group managing director Richard Vann said: “Providing project management and CDM co-ordination on a decommissioning, dismantling and decontamination programme of this complexity requires precision planning and the very best teamwork, with all of those involved. Our leading heavy industrial experience and expertise means we are well placed to ensure the safe, secure and best value strategies are implemented on this landmark site.”

Prior to being mothballed in 2011, the Teesside power station was capable of generating 1,875 megawatts of electricity.

RVA Group has appointed three new project managers as it continues to expand its operations both in the UK and across the globe.

Rashid Shauq, James Armstrong and Keith Kirby are all highly skilled professional engineers with many years’ experience of working in high hazard sectors, including the oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries.

Richard Vann, RVA’s managing director, comments: “The nature of our work means we hand-pick the very best and most talented individuals in our sector. All of our three new project managers have considerable knowledge of the markets we serve and they will be a great addition to the RVA team as it continues to expand, winning new international projects as well as ensuring it maintains the No.1 position in the UK, which is equally important to us.”

RVA has used the last 12 months wisely trading through the global recession whilst at the same time, investing heavily in its personnel training, quality management systems and IT infrastructure as it prepares to build on its solid position. The move is seen as crucial to supporting and sustaining the business on an international platform and continuing to meet the dynamic demands of its clients.

Richard Vann explains: “This investment by the company is considerable and absolutely necessary – our international work in particular needs to be supported by a strong corporate infrastructure that operates efficiently around the clock and across multiple time zones.

“Our reputation for the delivery of safe, secure and best value engineering projects has grown steadily over the last few years and this in turn has helped increase the number of overseas assignments both for existing and new clients. It’s a reputation well deserved by our hard working, highly experienced and innovative team.”

RVA’s growing client portfolio includes major blue chip companies including Total, ConocoPhillips, INVISTA, GSK, Bayer, INEOS, Huntsman and BASF. The company has recently secured major projects in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia.

RVA’s managing director Richard Vann has been invited to speak at Decom North Sea’s Offshore Decommissioning Conference next month.

Funded by the Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC), Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the Decom North Sea forum was established to tackle supply-chain issues within this highly specialist sector.

Richard joins a line-up of leading industry experts who will share their experience and innovative decommissioning strategies with the 300 delegates.

Commenting on the event Richard Vann said: “The scale of the structures to be dismantled in the oil and gas sector has led to a number of significant problems and delays. However, we at RVA know that to an extent these problems can be readily overcome by drawing on the expertise, experience and equipment amassed by decommissioning specialists working on comparatively complex facilities on shore.

“RVA for example has undertaken over 600 large scale high hazard decommissioning and dismantling projects worldwide, many of which have been within the oil and gas sectors and we fully understand the importance of balancing cost effective, innovative and pragmatic dismantling solutions with EHS excellence – there is much invaluable on shore knowledge and experience that will translate and add value to off shore dismantling programmes.

“Events such as this provide an excellent catalyst for change and I’m delighted to have been asked to play my part.”

A recent article in The Telegraph interestingly highlighted many of the issues affecting the manufacturing sector that the RVA Group witnesses on a daily basis through our decommissioning work worldwide.

Whilst confidence does seem to be growing there are still manufacturers facing incredibly tough decisions as to what to do with idling and redundant plant and we urge them to take a very close look at all the options available – innovative end-of-life asset management can bring many positives.

We are all aware that unprecedented pressures have been placed on chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies across the globe, and that unfortunately very few have proven recession-resistant. Some have consolidated their activities in a bid to work smarter from a smaller number of locations, whilst others have mothballed, rationalised or permanently closed down their sites.

The challenge for plant owners, managers and engineers is how to proceed with the safe and cost-effective management of their redundant assets, whilst minimising any environmental impact.

Operators often assume that there are limited options when closing a facility and many simply ask a local contractor for a ‘demolition’ price, before deciding whether to proceed with the exercise or not. Naturally plant owners wish to avoid abortive or non-essential spend yet delaying projects that are deemed unaffordable is not always the most appropriate solution. They will inevitably have to be tackled at a later date and in most cases at an overall increased cost due to continuing liabilities such as hazardous material containment, security provisions, regulatory compliance feed, care and maintenance costs, plus the burden of unavoidable overheads such as local authority building rates.

Other companies may initially try to sell their plant in-situ in an attempt to pursue a relatively ‘pain free’ site exit and where possible protect employees’ jobs. But in truth this course of action may not result in the highest possible commercial outcome, and if a buyer is not found processing firms may struggle to know what to do next.

Difficulties lie in making well-founded decisions about the future, especially at a time when pressures are mounting or there are knowledge gaps. Specialist tools such as feasibility studies therefore play a crucial role in the development of safe yet commercially sound redundant asset management plans.

The concept of the feasibility study is not new. For decades it has been regarded as a useful investigative exercise that generates reliable site and plant-specific data from which informed decisions can be made. But its widespread application is rapidly increasing, predominantly due to its ability to present previously unexplored solutions for even the most complex of plant closure projects.

By assessing every risk and exploring every opportunity these strategic management tools remove an element of the unknown and provide an insightful starting point from which value-adding business decisions can be made.

Leaders in cast iron technology Saint-Gobain PAM UK for example had initially thought that the cost to deplant and demolish its former Central Melting Plant and adjacent Hallam plant in Ilkeston would be excessive and prohibitive. Yet having ceased production in 2006 the mothballed heavy industrial posed a number of ongoing security and safety issues, therefore a series of feasibility studies was carried out investigate and cost the different solutions available to Saint-Gobain.

A number of opportunities were identified and it became apparent that the safest and most financially gainful solution was complete clearance of the site, which would generate sufficient funds from scrap materials to cover project costs and actually be cash generative.

Of course every project is different, however the goal should always be to maximise the return on assets where possible and safe to do so. It all comes back to the same thing – knowledge is power. Therefore informed and considered project strategies that involve the right people with the right engineering skill-set and experience, will help to ensure a safe, fully-integrated and professional approach, not to mention legislative compliance.