1 December 2022: Tiroler Wasserkraft AG (TIWAG) is expanding the hydroelectric power plant in Kufstein, Tyrol in Austria. The project involves an existing 21 MW hydroelectric power plant, a new powerhouse, water reservoir facilities and a substation and installation of turbines, transformers and generators. At present, the power plant can generate 19 MW. Upon completion of the project, the overall electricity generation capacity will be 40 MW, assisting the state of Tyrol to be energy independent.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) contract was awarded to EB&P Umweltbüro GmbH. ILF Beratende Ingenieure ZT GmbH was appointed feasibility study consultant, while Ing. Hans Bodner Bau GmbH & Co. KG is the general contractor. Geppert GmbH is the turbine supply contractor, while Master Drilling Europe AB carried out the raiseboring requirements.
The hydro power plant is 2 100 m above sea level in the Austrian Alps. The project required five shafts to be raisebored, with an average inclination of 45° to 55°, a diameter of 4.1 m and an average length of 100 m, with the longest tunnel being 147 m, explains Torbjörn Bäckström, Sales Manager at Master Drilling Europe AB.
The raiseboring had a narrow window from April to October 2021, with the site being inaccessible around January. Upon being contacted by TIWAG, Bäckström went to site to engage in a technical discussion about the project requirements and specifications.
“After that meeting, I just had one question: What is your plan? When will you take a decision?” The client was so impressed with Master Drilling’s proactive, hands-on approach that it shook hands on the deal then and there. The contract was signed in November 2021, whereupon it was full steam ahead for the actual project planning.
“For us to go to Norway or Finland, it is next door and no big deal. But when you go to a different country like Austria, they might have a different way of handling things, which impacts the initial preparation,” says Bäckström. “We did a really great job with the planning.”
The timeframe was for mobilisation to commence beginning April 2021. “We started spot-on on 4 April,” notes Bäckström. While the project was ultimately completed on 23 October 2022, team demobilisation actually took place one month earlier on 19 September. “Our performance on this project was exemplary. The raisebore drilling was perfect, with no major issues, while we had a lot of support from the client. All successful projects are due to having a client that is on their toes to assist when necessary and to maintain the workflow.”
Bäckström adds: “I also think the operators were happy to be in that lovely part of Europe with the mountains and its spectacular views, as it is ski resort territory in the winter. In summer there are also a lot of tourists.”
As part of its client relations initiative, Master Drilling always conducts a client survey on a project of this magnitude and scope. “We got top marks from the client. On a scale of 1 to 5, it was 5 for every question,” says Bäckström. In addition, the client commented that there was no element of the raiseboring component that could have been improved upon. “This was such an excellent endorsement from the client in the end as to our expertise, professionalism and experience. We achieved good cooperation and collaboration, which was the main reason for the project’s success. If the client does not engage with the professional team, there are bound to be problems.”
From an operational point of view, Master Drilling runs its projects with a single project manager. These highly seasoned professionals often undertake multiple projects and are therefore only on-site when required. “The Covid-19 pandemic allowed everybody to get to grips with online communications and virtual tools,” says Bäckström.
This particular project, due to the tight timeframe, required four operators. Working in two teams, the first would work the morning shift and the second the afternoon shift. With the first two-person team on-site for two weeks, the second would rest and recuperate before returning to site to relieve the first team.
“It is an arrangement that worked out well. We are very particular when it comes to staffing projects and allocating resources,” says Bäckström. One advantage was that the Alps is like Master Drilling’s home turf in Norway, an equally mountainous and challenging environment requiring equipment to be flown in by helicopter. The operators remain at these remote sites along with the drill rigs for the duration of any project. “Hence it is not new to us, and the client clearly selected us based on our experience and expertise in this kind of hostile environment.”
Another reason for Master Drilling’s success though is its policy of continuous client engagement. “We took the time to compile a proper offer based on a detailed technical discussion around the scope. It was not just a case of sending a paper offer. There was a lot of discussion as to the type of solution and support we could provide.”
Bäckström elaborates: “That is an important part of our sales department’s approach. Even though we might not have the right answer at the outset, we still engage with the client until we find a proper solution. We can at least say that we will investigate and get back with suitable answers. For example, we can have an internal discussion pooling all our global resources. We keep on our toes and try to solve as much as possible upfront. Once we have touched base with a client, we maintain that contact. The ‘walking the talk’ aspect of any project is really important.”
Another benefit for the client was that Master Drilling had the necessary equipment on hand to be able to meet its specific requirements. “It was not a customised solution in the sense that we had to reengineer reamers, for example. We could use all our standard equipment, even in the challenging project environment posed by the Alps.”
Such projects are also critical for Master Drilling to upskill its workforce and expose project managers to new environments and challenges. “We had some new operators who had never been abroad. It was a good experience for them,” says Bäckström.
“It was a genuinely collaborative team effort from the sales department to the back office, plant team, operators and project manager. I cannot do my job if the team is not supporting me in-house. That larger picture is key to a project’s success. And we are really a small organisation. We work like a family in that everybody does their bit. I also help with other aspects that do not fall under the sales function just to assist in resolving any specific problems to ensure we provide a complete and successful solution to the client at the end of the day.”
When Master Drilling concluded this project, the drill rig was dispatched immediately to another job in Spain as opposed to being returned to the home base in Norway to await future deployment. “This allows us to maximise the utilisation of our equipment, which otherwise would stand idle,” says Bäckström.
Health and safety on a project of this scale, complexity and operating environment is obviously paramount, with special measures having to be put into place. “We are safety first. Our operators are excellent from that perspective, always using the appropriate fall arrest, working at height or required PPE,” says Bäckström.
“A collaborative joint venture environment like this project is always good to observe other practices and methods and compare our performance against them. It is not simply a case of doing the work and getting out as quickly as possible. That is an important aspect of our business. In such an instance, our processes and procedures can become a benchmark and a role model for the entire project in terms of risk assessment and health and safety best practice.” Master Drilling was proud to achieve a zero-incident safety record on this project.
“Our overall attitude to safety means it is seldom we have any kind of incidents on any project. I have been to this particular site a couple of times to meet up with our operators and assess progress. It also afforded me the opportunity to meet up with the client on-site to assess any issues they may have,” says Bäckström. “It has been a relatively straightforward project because everybody has been so positive. It has gone really well, without any hiccups.”
Bäckström explains: “My role is largely to ensure high utilisation of our equipment. But it is also about meeting people, including the client and our own operators. That kind of interaction is critical to reinforce the idea that everyone plays a vital part in any project’s success.” This allows Master Drilling to keep its clients up to date with the latest innovations and technology, and to maintain these existing relationships through both tough and good market conditions.
“It is good for me to learn from the operators as well, as they have the first-hand experience,” says Bäckström. Commenting on the current state of the market, he points out that there is currently a shortage of drill rigs and operators, with Master Drilling actively recruiting now.
“We are busy, with a lot of pending projects in the mining and infrastructure segments. We have quite a lot of projects within infrastructure, such as the new metro system being built in Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden, for example. The situation in the market right now is that while there is a shortage of drill rigs and operators, we receive really good support from the company globally to meet these challenges head on,” concludes Bäckström.
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