SVI Shortlisted For EIC Award

Submitted in conjunction with Wales & West Utilities, Steve Vick International (SVI) is delighted to have been shortlisted for an Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) Award in two categories – Best Gas Network Improvement and Best Safety Improvement.

Now in its eighth year, the UK Energy Innovation Awards celebrate the best new technologies and innovations that are having a positive impact on the UK energy industry and benefitting energy customers.

SVI submitted its new Rapid Steel Window Cutter in the Best Gas Network Improvement category. This lightweight, hand-held tool is the first of its kind capable of cutting windows in steel gas mains quickly and safely in order to gain access to previously inserted PE pipe.

Using traditional methods to gain access to a PE pipe inserted in a steel main presents problems because of the difficulty and risks involved in cutting the steel both longitudinally and circumferentially. The Rapid Steel Window Cutter removes a window, a process which would take 60 minutes by conventional methods, in less than half an hour.

SVI’s SMARTester the highly accurate wireless pressure sensor has been shortlisted in the Best Safety Improvement category.  By replacing the water gauge as a means of testing new gas supplies, this hand-held electronic device, with its dedicated Smartphone app, takes accurate pressure readings and also provides a digital record of the test data, helping gas networks to identify potential problems with gas supplies earlier.

By avoiding potential operator error, inaccuracies and the problems associated with tracking historical data, the unique SMARTester offers GDNs reliable pressure test results and the ability to access data at any time to better manage network integrity.

Both these new products were developed by SVI in collaboration with Wales & West Utilities as part of its continuous drive for advances in safety for customers and colleagues.

EIC’s Managing Director, Denise Massey, chair of the judging panel says, “The EIC awards serve to highlight successful engagement between SMEs and energy providers, showcasing the ways in which ground-breaking technologies developed by SMEs are being utilised in collaborative partnerships with UK distribution networks”.

Denise and a group of industry experts including the CEO of Northern Gas Networks and EIC Chairman, Mark Horsley, Cadent Chief Executive Chris Train OBE, and Jonathan Brearley, Senior Partner of Ofgem, are now in the process of selecting winners from the shortlist.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Titanic Hotel, Liverpool on Thursday, 28th September 2017.