2023 Schedule
The Decommission Boom - A Path to Carbon Neutrality![]() Presenter: Rick Derkach
Asset Management Specialist, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited
Description:
Asset decommissioning is a large and fast-growing business. However the full comprehension of the program terms for both cost and the complexity of this execution phase in an assets lifecycle is regularly misunderstood. This presentation will discuss the ways to find the right model for asset decommissioning.
As the world moves quickly on the path to carbon neutrality, replacing our aging assets with a clean-energy option is a critical step towards the reduction of large (GHG) greenhouse gas producing assets. As a part of our enterprise mission throughout the world in all industrial sectors, the immediate "turn on the switch" to carbon neutral will be met with increasing challenges of supply and demand and our new race to the green planet.
Now, seen as a corporate responsibility rather than a burden, our mission bears greater challenges than just reducing carbon, and poses another layer of complexity when deciding what, when and how to decommission while balancing significant capital investments to remain sustainable.
If our current practices for our assets life-cycle; from design through to operational phase are without standardization, we then introduce greater technical challenges, economic cost and psycho-social challenges that affect our workforce retention during the end of the assets life.
While we collectively align to combat our climate crisis, we also enter deeper into a "Throwaway" Society. World-wide decommissioning has become a "hot topic" as we see many assets reaching their end of life, while at the same time climate change takes center stage.
As the increased public eye adds another layer of scrutiny over asset decommissioning, we need to create an efficient and effective program that will accept "green" decommissioning, supporting a circular economy through recycling and waste reduction, while looking towards ways to reuse existing assets for renewable energy transformation. About the Presenter:
I am a demonstrated and consummate professional with 26 years, firsthand experience in physical asset management through operational and reliability excellence. It is my pursuit as an agent of change in the landscape of operations, maintenance and reliability to couple best practices while aligning the strengths and diversity of the employees to achieve success. Such cooperation and synergy have resulted in enhancement of strategies to support autonomy, mastery and purpose in the context of asset management frameworks and continual improvement. I have been fortunate to engage in managing assets starting my journey as a journeyman industrial mechanic and apprentice industrial electrician, which further supported my growth and development of skillsets to become a craftsman at my trade, while expanding my knowledge to maintenance planning, supervision, and management in senior roles within a number of industries, such as manufacturing, pulp & paper, engineered lumber products, mining, oil & gas, and marine transportation. I have also had the opportunity to engage as principal consultant in reliability for mining, oil & gas and green energy solutions within Canada, United States and Australia. I am currently employed with Agnico Eagle Mining Ltd., with the Asset Management group as part of the Nunavut service groups supporting our 3 mining operations in the Nunavut region. |