14 June 2017
With about 187.000 employees in 64 countries, Saint-Gobain is the largest producer of building materials in the world. Two deprived emergency power units had to be replaced at the production site of the Dutch subsidiary, Saint-Gobain Isover in Etten-Leur. The combination Bakker Sliedrecht/Pon Power won the public tender in competition and replaced the two generators by three Cat C15s.
Saint-Gobain Isover uses two gas fired glass ovens to melt glass. These ovens have to be operational continuously. If the ovens cool down, it would be impossible to remove the glass from the oven as it solidifies. The only option left would be to break the oven and replace it completely. Therefore, continuity is key to Saint-Gobain Isover. In order to ensure continuity, the company has been looking for the best solution for the replacement of the two old emergency power generators for cooling the glass ovens. One was out of order due to expensive repair costs and the other one had aged and was no longer up to the tasks.
When searching for the best solution, a couple of configurations with two, three or four generators were compared with each other. Answering questions relating to redundancy, automation, taxation, and testing were important while making this comparison. Eventually, the option of three generators without redundancy was chosen. In case of a power failure, all three generators must be switched on and work fully automatic.
Bakker Sliedrecht and Pon Power have made a proposal in close cooperation with not only the generator sets, but also the panels, control, and a smart way to place the generators. Not only the solution for supplying the emergency power was important, but also the replacement, operation and connection to the existing energy network of Saint-Gobain Isover. And everything had to work automatically, without human intervention. The proposal of Bakker Sliedrecht and Pon Power solved all questions. The generator sets are placed in a way that not only the warm air can be drained very easily, but the generators can also be replaced through the façade in case of replacements without moving the other generator sets. It is an elegant and complete solution that is also delivered for a competitive price.
The generator sets were placed and the systems are full integrated into Isover’s energy network by the of 2016. Meanwhile everything has been tested extensively and is Hans van den Hooven (Project Manager Saint-Gobain Isover) very satisfied: “Bakker Sliedrecht and Pon Power came up with a very nice solution, they really distinguished themselves from the other providers.”
Scope of the project:
