EM - April/May 2012 - (Page 40)

40 The LasT Word April/May 2012 www.esb.ie/em making the connection oining ESB International in 1998, David Nesbitt has worked entirely in South East Asia. He has project managed Ba Ria Combined Cycle Add-On, Pha Lai 2 coal-fired station, Nhon Trach CCPP and Hai Phong 1 coal-fired stations, all located in Vietnam. He has also worked on Tanjung Jati coal fired station in Indonesia. Born in the north east of England, David grew up when ship building, coal mining and the large industrial giants of Parsons, Armstrong Whitworth, Reyrolle and ICI and many others were still at their peak, and as a result he came across many people in the north east who had family connections with Scotland and Ireland. While David’s family link to Ireland is through a great grandmother on his Dad’s side, two hiking trips around Ireland in the summers of ’60 and ’61 introduced him to the friendliness and humour of the Irish people. This, David claims, was illustrated by a generous motorist who refused to drop him off at a youth hostel until he had given him an under age introduction to Guinness! As a Geordie (before Sky, all North Easterners were considered Geordies not just “them from the dark side”), David was, and still is, an avid Sunderland fan and with early favorites such as Charlie Hurley and J very close to his heart. 8 David Nesbitt speaks to EM about working in ESBI, his family and a cause that is Johnny Crossan through to Niall Quinn, Drumaville, Roy Keane and now Martin O’Neil the Irish connection has been ever present. Joining ESBI was not the start of expatriate life for David and his wife Alwyn who since 1970 had lived and worked in Zambia, Iran and Dubai before joining the International division of ESB. Life in Zambia, living in Kitwe and working at Nkana Division in the copper mining industry was ‘as good as life can be’, says David, as it provided with a wonderful climate, great sporting opportunities, unrivalled job experience and the birth place of their two sons, Andrew and Simon. Zambia was where another Irish connection kicked off when David’s electrical projects team was joined by a number of Irish graduates one of whom was Iggy O’Kane, who is now with Mott McDonald, and Paul O’Duffy, who is also an ESBI project manager today. David and Alwyn decided to move on leaving Zambia in 1977, but not before Iggy put in an offer to buy David’s car striking a deal for payment in sterling from an Irish bank to a bank account in England. However, Iggy, as a noble and honest young man, decided that he should also give David a cheque for the same amount to be cashed in the event of the transfer not going through. Four months later, prior to his posting in Iran, the bank transfer failed to materialise so Iggy’s cheque was reluctantly deposited into David’s bank account. Some time later, David received a letter from his Dad in South Shields saying that a young Irishman had come to his house asking about David’s whereabouts and explaining how the two payments had been debited from his bank account. At the time, well before telephone or internet banking, David was faced with a dilemma in having no cheque book with him. An ingenious solution was decided on and the format of a cheque was drawn out on a torn sheet of A3 paper and posted off to the address in Kilkee, in County Clare provided in the letter. No acknowledgement was received, but the debit from the account was confirmed! Following a stressful exit from Iran during the downfall of the Shah, an opportunity was presented to David to join Dubai Aluminium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1979. Dubai at that stage was not the place it The fund is manis today with a aged by volunteers population of to ensure that the around 300,000 projects receive and with the the total benefit construction of from all fund-rais- Port Rashid and ing.... its dry docks, Jebel Ali Port, the Dubai Aluminium Smelter and the new power stations at Jebel Ali in their early stages, all developments that would pave the way for what Dubai has since become. Life in Dubai was enjoyable and Dave sent his two boys back for education to boarding schools in England. After some years his son, Andrew became friendly with a young Irish lady, Tania Devereux, and another Nesbitt-Ireland connection was established that became permanent with their marriage. Finally, after 19 years in Dubai, David joined ESBI and moved with Alwyn to Vietnam. During a visit to Dublin in 2004, a reunion with Iggy took place and the full story of the Irishman, the Englishman and the car ‘bought twice’ was finally brought to a conclusion – a story which took 27 years to explain! David is now at the cusp of retirement and following his enjoyable david with Noel Murray, on a ‘walk about’ at hai Phong 1 in Vietnam. “ david Nesbitt, who has been with esBI since 1998. years with ESBI in Vietnam, he has another issue very close to his heart. This is a fund that has been set up in memory of Tania’s brother Sean Devereux. Sean was a young graduate who had been working in Africa for nearly five years helping the poorest of Africa’s youths. He had been a pupil at the Salesian College in Farnborough and went as a lay volunteer to the Salesian community at St Francis School in Liberia. Sean transferred to work with United Nations Liberian relief operations and then worked with UNICEF in Somalia, and where at the age of 28, he was murdered by a lone gunman. David quotes Sean’s own inspirational explanation for his commitment to Africa, “While my heart beats, I have to do what I think I can do – that is, help those who are less fortunate”. The Sean Devereux Fund (seandevereux.org.uk/) provides aid to African children in need, for projects that offer selfsufficiency and sustainability in the longer term. Through education, the fund strives to give children the opportunity to empower themselves for the future. “The fund is managed by volunteers to ensure that the projects receive the total benefit from all fund-raising,’’ said David. As well as funding projects in Somalia and Liberia, the fund also engages in emergency project work in Tanzania. David hopes to involve himself more in the fund’s activities following his retirement. n FACT FILE Hai Phong Coal Fired Power Station 4 x 300 MW Units EPC Contractor Dong Fang Electric Corporation China Hai Phong is a coal fired station in the North of Vietnam approximately 100km from Hanoi. It comprises 4 x 300 MW coal fired units. ESBI is the providing consultancy services to the Institute of Energy of Hanoi. The EPC Contract was awarded to Dongfang Electric of China and a substantial portion of the equipment is provided from China. The Boiler is an indirect fired boiler manufactured by Dongfang. The Steam Turbine is provided by Fuji Electric from Japan. Construction of the first two units commenced in 2006 and these underwent performance tests last year. The remaining two units are scheduled for commercial operation in 2013. http://www.esb.ie/em http://seandevereux.org.uk/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - April/May 2012

EM - April/May 2012
Contents
News
Services & Electric Ireland
ESB Networks Ltd
ESB Energy International
Health & Habitat
Life

EM - April/May 2012