It is 2 pm when the Tauw Rotterdam Emission Monitoring Department receives a request for a measurement to be carried out at the GDF Suez energy power plant. It concerns a measurement which has to be carried out on the very same day at the GDF Suez power plant in Luxembourg.
Despite a full schedule the request is dealt with swiftly. Phone calls are made between the Tauw measuring teams who are working at various locations in the country; cars, personnel and materials are moved back and forth after which the measuring equipment van sets off to Luxembourg at 4 pm.
Darkness has already fallen when the measuring team arrives at a silent steam and gas power plant and an operational height of 50 meters is speedily realized. Then the long wait starts until the power plant is finally powered up. We are repeatedly called from the control room to be ready to go, but just as many times it is called off until at 1.30 a.m. in consultation with each other the conclusion is reached that we are not going to succeed. After a short night the measuring team is ready to start again at 10.30 a.m. Ultimately at 4 p.m. it is decided that it is no longer possible to carry out the measurements and that Tauw can return home without having accomplishing its mission.
However, just as the Tauw van is approaching the Brussels ring road, GDF Suez rings to say that things are likely to succeed this evening after all, and would the measuring team turn back to carry out the measurements. At 10.30 p.m. the signal to be ‘ready to measure’; is finally given, but it is 12.30 a.m. before the first measurement can be started up. Eventually it was possible to take 2 measurements each lasting for two hours during the start-up. At 5 a.m. the measurement team is able to grab just a few hours of sleep before driving back to Rotterdam.
GDF Suez expressed its appreciation for the fact that the team had turned back at Brussels to carry out the measurements after all. For GDF Suez it was vital to be able to supply power to the Luxembourg grid. The competent authorities, who had drawn up the condition that measurements must be carried out during start-up, were also satisfied. GDF Suez has indicated that in future they would like to make use of Tauw’s services during these types of start-up procedures.
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