Presentation of the vgbe awards at the vgbe Congress 2021
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- vgbe Innovation Award:
Theresa Loss for results in deformation analysis of wind turbine rotor blades and
Romans Oleksijs for optimising load change operation of combined power plants - vgbe Quality Award:
BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH for the renewal of the
Roßhaupten hydropower dam - vgb Safety & Health Award:
ENGIE Thermal Europe for improvement in quality and safety
of contractors
- vgbe Innovation Award:
Engineers as well as scientists and experts in energy technology and the energy industry are honoured every year on the occasion of the vgbe Congress for their innovations and commitment. The Innovation Award, Quality Award and Health & Safety Award are esteemed awards, which were presented also this year during the opening ceremony of the vgbe Congress by the Chairman of the Association, Dr. Georgios Stamatelopoulos:
vgbe Innovation Award
For more than 40 years, the VGB-FORSCHUNGSSTIFTUNG has awarded university graduates or young professionals with the Innovation Award for outstanding achievements in energy technology. Since 2019, the award has been presented in two categories “Application Orientation” and “Future Orientation” with corresponding evaluation criteria. The award is endowed with prize money of 5,000.00 euros in each category.
This year, the vgbe Innovation Award, category “Application Orientation”, was presented to Dr. Romans Oleksijs for his work on load change operation in combined heat and power plants (CHP) and its effects on main electrical components. For this purpose, Romans Oleksijs developed empirical formulas that enable the assessment of reliability for different operating scenarios and also a cost calculation for failures due to unavailability. The empirical formulas from this study can be used for the main electrical components of all types of CHP plants and contribute to the efficient, safe and economic operation of plants.
(f.l.t.r.: Dr. Romans Oleksijs, vgbe Innovation Award Award winner 2021, Dr. Georgios Stamatelopoulos, Chairman of the Association, Dr. Oliver Then, Executive Managing Director, VGB PowerTech)
The vgbe Innovation Award in the category “Future Orientation” was given to graduate engineer Theresa Loss. The work of Theresa Loss was recognised for outstanding results in monitoring the deformation of wind turbine rotor blades with 3D accelerometers and model-based bending shapes. Consistent monitoring of rotor blades is one possibility to optimise rotor blade settings and reduce alternating deformation. This leads to a significant extension of service life and thus to sustainable and more cost-effective operation of wind turbines.
vgbe Quality Award
Quality is the basis for successful, safe and economical plant operation.
Therefore, vgbe energy launched the Quality Award back in 2006 to raise awareness in the industry towards the commercial importance of quality and to honour partner companies that have demonstrated exceptional quality in the provision of their supplies and services.
(f.l.t.r.: Dr. Oliver Then, Executive Managing Director, VGB PowerTech, Dietmar Seitz, Stefan Jäger, BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, Dr. Georgios Stamatelopoulos, vgbe Chairman, VGB PowerTech e.V)
This year, BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH, Southern Region, Dachau, represented by Ing. Dietmar Seitz and Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Jäger, was awarded the vgbe Quality Award. Uniper Kraftwerke GmbH, Landshut, suggested BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH for their outstanding quality in the project “Renewal of the Roßhaupten dam seal”.
Apart from generating environmentally friendly electricity for around 48,000 households, the Uniper “Roßhaupten power plant” with the associated dam structure also contributes to the control of floods and crises. The Roßhaupten dam is the essential element for equalising the water flow and flood safety on the river Lech. The dam is permanently monitored with around 50 measuring points. In 2018, temporary safety measures were implemented immediately on the basis of findings. BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH also carried out these measures with a view to the long term. The aim was to create a new dam seal. BAUER Spezialtiefbau GmbH carried out the work with outstanding quality, which certainly also involved a high degree of responsibility.
vgbe Safety & Health Award
Safety and health have been on the agenda of energy plant operators for years and, along with security of supply and environmental compatibility, it is one of the most prominent topics in corporate policies.
This year, the vgbe Safety & Health Award was presented to ENGIE Thermal Europe, represented by Hilde Geudens and Massar van Schaik.
(f.l.t.r.: Dr. Oliver Then, Executive Managing Director, VGB PowerTech, Hilde Geudens, Massar van Schaik, ENGIE Thermal Europe, Dr. Georgios Stamatelopoulos, vgbe Chairman, VGB PowerTech e.V)
Ongoing monitoring revealed that safety-related events at contractors had increased since 2018 and were significantly higher than ENGIE’s internal events. A project was initiated and the key question was asked: What can and must at ENGIE to improve safety and health in connection with work carried out by contractors? Workshops were held in several internationally staffed project groups to create a “common language” for all processes. This resulted in a guideline with 10 criteria to be observed by contractors on the topics of health and safety, quality and ethics. These 10 criteria are summarised by ENGIE with the support of “Help cards” and are mandatory for ENGIE management, i.e. no order is accepted or executed at ENGIE without “Help cards”. In this way, ENGIE ensures that health and safety and the quality of its contractors are noticeably improved.
The presentation of these four awards also underlines the commitment of vgbe. With the vgbe awards, the association focuses on innovation, quality and the topic of health and safety and thus contributes to the improvement of supply security, environmental compatibility and occupational health and safety in the energy industry.
Contact: Dipl.-Ing. Christopher Weßelmann | vgbe energy Communication | pr@vgbe.energy
