A safe rescue

Right now, Avedøre Power Station's harbour area is teeming with more activity than usual. During this week, more than 100 firemen attached to the Danish fire department covering the western part of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Fire Department will visit Avedøre Power Station to train for a quite special discipline: rescue from depth.

Jens Nybo Stilling Sørensen, Harbour Specialist at Avedøre Power Station, said: "We must be able to get our employees up if they get injured in our cargo holds. It's a difficult and unfamiliar task for the rescue crew. So I'm really pleased that the fire department is training here so that they familiarise themselves with the area and the conditions."

Standing in the cargo hold of one of DONG Energy's barges located at the quay of Avedøre Power Station and forming the basis of the exercise, you have no doubt that it will be difficult to get back up if you are injured. 

Sørensen continued: "A 14 metre vertical wall marks the distance from the vessel's rail to the cargo hold, and the distance from the quay to the railing is a whopping 8 metres. So it's necessary to have both the right equipment and training to get people back up."

Together with the Danish fire department covering the western part of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Fire Department, DONG Energy has planned several exercises at Avedøre Power Station during the coming year. Apart from rescue operations on our vessels, which they are training this week, the plan is also to train rescue from considerable heights and confined space rescue from the engine room where there is limited room for manoeuvring. 

Sørensen concluded: "We have a strong focus on safety at the power station and first and foremost, it's all about how to avoid accidents. But if they do happen, we must be ready to respond quickly and in the right way, and that's what we're training together with the fire department."