TAQA Energy worked together with EBN on the construction of the Bergermeer Gas Storage in Alkmaar. Underground storage of natural gas is needed to ensure a stable and guaranteed availability of sufficient natural gas during every season of the year for the coming decades.
Upon completion, Bergermeer Gas Storage became the largest freely accessible gas storage facility in Europe, with a working volume of 4.1 billion cubic metres of natural gas. This is about ten percent of the annual total gas consumption of the Netherlands and is enough to meet the annual consumption of 2.5 million households.
Eight main contractors were commissioned to work on the project, and together they were jointly responsible for its successful completion. On the site itself, there were between six and seven hundred mining companies and up to nine thousand people working at any given time.
This extensive and complex project was also held back further due to pressure from the government. The most important conditions that had to be met were – besides safe working conditions – the prevention of illegal labour, the assurance of correct reporting to the tax authorities, and exact time registration and control of the SCC. In addition, the government demanded that eighty percent of the employees came from the region.
In cooperation with Securitas, IQ-Pass took care of the security of this project at two locations: Bergermeer and Boeklermeer. GoWorkforce was developed in cooperation with the Tax and Customs Administration, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) and the State Supervision of Mines, among others. As part of the software, the Tax and Customs Administration performed a monthly check of the ATW (Working Hours Act), work permit, visa and citizen service number.
Savings
The complete automation of GoWorkforce minimised the margin of human error, prevented penalties and fines, and ensured the laws and regulations were complied with. In this way, GoWorkforce quickly paid for itself and, above all, contributed to the government’s approval of the project.
