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A European standard introduced in 1991 requires local authorities to reduce their nitrogen and phosphorus emissions – which are responsible for pollution of aquatic ecosystems – and, in particular, to backfit specific equipment to their water treatment facilities. For France’s 12,000 wastewater treatment plants, 80% of which were built before 1990, this has meant a long and costly upgrade programme.
Although France enjoys a position of leadership, as well as a positive image, in the water treatment sector, it has some ground to make up in terms of its efforts to bring facilities into line with standards. A major programme of works has therefore been undertaken, with considerable resources deployed by local authorities to upgrade existing stations as well as building new facilities. These efforts dovetail neatly with one of ETDE’s four areas of focus for strategic development: the environment.
The project owner is keen to showcase the plant’s technological and environmental credentials. As the first fully automated facility of its kind, it sets the benchmark for such projects across France.
ETDE has plenty on its plate, including power and ELV systems (cabling, light fittings, inverters, fire detection, video surveillance, ventilation, etc.), air conditioning and plumbing in the operation and administrative buildings, and I&C and supervision systems in the plant (featuring 12 controllers with associated servers, interfaces, computer-aided maintenance management, fibre-optic network, etc.). The plant’s 25,000 I&C points are supervised via tablet PCs linked to a wireless network, allowing operations to be carried out from anywhere on the plant. Requirements for on-call supervision outside working hours are reduced thanks to the use of mobile phone alerts and access to supervision systems via ADSL.
“This kind of project is extremely technical,” says Louis Claire, “and requires an understanding of the client’s process to make it comprehensible in electrical terms.” Louis Claire defined the principles of the I&C and supervision architecture, and coordinated the detailed design. Xavier d’Ausbourg and Sophie Vanhersecke were responsible for this phase on the electrical side. This adds up to thousands of hours of design work to propose solutions that met the expectations of SIAAP.
The key to the operational phase, under senior site worker Michel Hamidi, is compliance, not only with electrical standards, but also with installation rules that are specific to the client. What is more, extremely stringent quality requirements are applied in an industrial environment: “Every cable has to be capable of being tracked and identified, the cables are painted, everything has to be spotless!” says site foreman Michel Carpentier.
“We now have the skills”
Civil engineering consortium
Environmental potential
In April 2007, ETDE’s Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering Paris Region Division delivered its largest environmental project to date in the shape of the Les Grésillons wastewater treatment plant, a genuine technological “first” supplied entirely by ETDE. Although providing electrical, instrumentation & control (I&C) and supervision systems presented a real challenge, the project also constitutes a major step toward growing this hugely promising market in France.
A European standard introduced in 1991 requires local authorities to reduce their nitrogen and phosphorus emissions – which are responsible for pollution of aquatic ecosystems – and, in particular, to backfit specific equipment to their water treatment facilities. For France’s 12,000 wastewater treatment plants, 80% of which were built before 1990, this has meant a long and costly upgrade programme.Although France enjoys a position of leadership, as well as a positive image, in the water treatment sector, it has some ground to make up in terms of its efforts to bring facilities into line with standards. A major programme of works has therefore been undertaken, with considerable resources deployed by local authorities to upgrade existing stations as well as building new facilities. These efforts dovetail neatly with one of ETDE’s four areas of focus for strategic development: the environment.
A whole new business
For the Paris urban area wastewater treatment authority (SIAAP), investments are the order of the day. The new Les Grésillons wastewater treatment plant in Triel-sur-Seine outside Paris – for which civil engineering works were carried out by Bouygues Travaux Publics – will handle wastewater from the Hautil valley and grey water from Pierrelaye, Enghien and Colombes.
“This is a first for ETDE,” explains Olivier Babo, operations director for Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering Major Projects Paris Region. The design-and-build, results-based contract, worth €11 million, covers electricity, I&C and supervision – all supplied by ETDE. “Too much was at stake to sub-contract anything.” Finally, the client has extensive technical expertise as well as extremely high expectations, as befits an operator rather than a project owner. All this adds up to a fully comprehensive industrial project.
Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering Paris Region called on all of the necessary capabilities to enable it to undertake the project: ETDE Industrie was assigned the I&C package, while responsibility for supervision systems was placed with Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering South-East France. Specialists recruited from outside the company included a site foreman specialising in environmental projects, as well as an expert in industrial IT and control systems, Louis Claire, described as the “go-to guy for these kinds of situations” by project manager Bastien Bertel.
“This is a first for ETDE,” explains Olivier Babo, operations director for Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering Major Projects Paris Region. The design-and-build, results-based contract, worth €11 million, covers electricity, I&C and supervision – all supplied by ETDE. “Too much was at stake to sub-contract anything.” Finally, the client has extensive technical expertise as well as extremely high expectations, as befits an operator rather than a project owner. All this adds up to a fully comprehensive industrial project.
Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering Paris Region called on all of the necessary capabilities to enable it to undertake the project: ETDE Industrie was assigned the I&C package, while responsibility for supervision systems was placed with Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering South-East France. Specialists recruited from outside the company included a site foreman specialising in environmental projects, as well as an expert in industrial IT and control systems, Louis Claire, described as the “go-to guy for these kinds of situations” by project manager Bastien Bertel.
A technological showcase
The project owner is keen to showcase the plant’s technological and environmental credentials. As the first fully automated facility of its kind, it sets the benchmark for such projects across France.ETDE has plenty on its plate, including power and ELV systems (cabling, light fittings, inverters, fire detection, video surveillance, ventilation, etc.), air conditioning and plumbing in the operation and administrative buildings, and I&C and supervision systems in the plant (featuring 12 controllers with associated servers, interfaces, computer-aided maintenance management, fibre-optic network, etc.). The plant’s 25,000 I&C points are supervised via tablet PCs linked to a wireless network, allowing operations to be carried out from anywhere on the plant. Requirements for on-call supervision outside working hours are reduced thanks to the use of mobile phone alerts and access to supervision systems via ADSL.
“This kind of project is extremely technical,” says Louis Claire, “and requires an understanding of the client’s process to make it comprehensible in electrical terms.” Louis Claire defined the principles of the I&C and supervision architecture, and coordinated the detailed design. Xavier d’Ausbourg and Sophie Vanhersecke were responsible for this phase on the electrical side. This adds up to thousands of hours of design work to propose solutions that met the expectations of SIAAP.
The key to the operational phase, under senior site worker Michel Hamidi, is compliance, not only with electrical standards, but also with installation rules that are specific to the client. What is more, extremely stringent quality requirements are applied in an industrial environment: “Every cable has to be capable of being tracked and identified, the cables are painted, everything has to be spotless!” says site foreman Michel Carpentier.
Completion within 10 months, including testing
The technical challenges are coupled with time constraints: work had to be completed within 10 months, including testing. The client also had to be provided with ongoing handover support during that period; for SIAAP, this kind of technical revolution involves a major training and familiarisation effort that falls within the scope of ETDE’s tasks. All possible means were used in the race to save time. 80% of electrical cabinets, for example, totalling 179 metres in length, were tested in the workshop before installation. “We check them using an automatic system,” explains Jérôme Ruellé, testing and commissioning supervisor. “Then we do a second test on site.”
Throughout the project, adaptation is the rule. “Things never work exactly as planned,” explains Louis Claire. “We do a lot of simulations, but they can never take the place of reality.” Plant-specific equipment requires extremely careful and detailed testing and adjustment. This kind of work, as well as the modifications made throughout the project, mean that close attention has to be paid to the client's needs at all times.
Project handover took place recently, in April 2007. “The Les Grésillons plant represents an important first step for us, demonstrating our ability to design and build a facility,” says Olivier Babo. “But it’s also a great human adventure, which has involved genuinely constructive cooperation, and an excellent relationship with Bouygues Travaux Publics.” Bastien Bertel adds: “With our focus on consistency, technical added value and customer service, doing good work doesn’t mean you can’t earn money.”
Throughout the project, adaptation is the rule. “Things never work exactly as planned,” explains Louis Claire. “We do a lot of simulations, but they can never take the place of reality.” Plant-specific equipment requires extremely careful and detailed testing and adjustment. This kind of work, as well as the modifications made throughout the project, mean that close attention has to be paid to the client's needs at all times.
Project handover took place recently, in April 2007. “The Les Grésillons plant represents an important first step for us, demonstrating our ability to design and build a facility,” says Olivier Babo. “But it’s also a great human adventure, which has involved genuinely constructive cooperation, and an excellent relationship with Bouygues Travaux Publics.” Bastien Bertel adds: “With our focus on consistency, technical added value and customer service, doing good work doesn’t mean you can’t earn money.”
“We now have the skills”
After 10 years’ experience of working as a subcontractor on wastewater treatment plants, this was the first project carried out by ETDE in its own name. The client expressed its satisfaction with ETDE’s compliance with schedule and technical quality requirements, thereby giving a boost to the company’s image. Skills acquired during the project open the door for new opportunities, particularly since a second unit is planned at the site, increasing the plant’s capacity from 100,000 to 300,000 cubic metres.
“We now have trained employees who know the operator to help us put together a proposal,” says Bastien Bertel. Other booming environmental sectors offering considerable potential for growth include fume treatment, incineration, and collection and sorting of waste.
The environment: constraints and opportunities
Environmental protection can present a real challenge. At Les Grésillons, the entire treatment system (water filtration and chemical treatment, sludge recovery and drying) utilises state-of-the-art technologies. The plant is equipped with four deodorisation towers, as well as noise limitation features, and the buildings are architecturally designed to blend harmoniously into the landscape. All of the installations are now enclosed: at Les Grésillons, as at the Pierre-Bénite facility near Lyon, the treatment tanks are covered. “We have had to adapt, because the design means that we have go up onto the roof,” says Eric Ameye, project manager at Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering South-East France. “Particular attention is paid to safety precautions.”
Another specific feature is that cableways are made from PVC, which provides better resistance to corrosion in a chemical environment. Treatment processes, meanwhile, are based around the principle of recovery: the water required for the plant’s operation is taken directly from the system itself, while heat comes from sludge combustion, with residues recycled as fertilisers or heating fuel blocks. “We adapt our project organisation and phasing to take account of these kinds of constraints,” explains Louis de Montauzan, Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering South-East France’s supervisor at the Thonon wastewater treatment plant. “However, the environmental side of things is also highly motivating and enriching.”
Another specific feature is that cableways are made from PVC, which provides better resistance to corrosion in a chemical environment. Treatment processes, meanwhile, are based around the principle of recovery: the water required for the plant’s operation is taken directly from the system itself, while heat comes from sludge combustion, with residues recycled as fertilisers or heating fuel blocks. “We adapt our project organisation and phasing to take account of these kinds of constraints,” explains Louis de Montauzan, Electrical, Mechanical & HVAC Engineering South-East France’s supervisor at the Thonon wastewater treatment plant. “However, the environmental side of things is also highly motivating and enriching.”All of these innovations can be showcased thanks to a special tour circuit installed at Les Grésillons, which allows schools and local residents’ associations to visit the plant. Installing the flat screens for the circuit was yet another job for ETDE!
Leverage complementary capabilities within ETDE
Established in Caen in 1998, and acquired by ETDE in 2004, Xélia offers expertise in I&C and supervision. “Environmental projects now make a significant contribution to our growth,” says Thierry Hecquet, deputy works director. This concerns in particular waste incinerators, which are faced with increasingly drastic restrictions on atmospheric releases of dioxin, carbon dioxide, acid gases and other emissions. Processes have to adapt to regulations, enabling new solutions to be offered to clients, such as furnace charges designed to limit emissions, re-use of heat, treatment of releases, dust recovery, etc.
Civil engineering consortium
As lead firm of the civil engineering consortium, Bouygues Travaux Publics, together with Razel, was responsible for earthworks, foundations and backfilling, as well as the main industrial buildings of the plant, and roads and utilities. Bouygues Bâtiment Île-de-France carried out all-trades construction of the administrative and operation buildings which were part of the civil engineering package.
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