Teamwork Powers Opportunity

On the southern coast of Turkey, in Mersin Province, lies a jobsite that’s nothing short of monumental. Construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant began in 2018 and will continue until at least 2026. The project is so massive, the governments of Turkey and Russia formed a joint venture to build the facility. It is estimated that the plant will meet 10 percent of Turkey’s demand for electricity as a more sustainable alternative to plants that emit larger amounts of CO₂.

This is one of the largest megaprojects to which Hilti has ever contributed. Orders are measured in tons and trucks. We’re handling the challenge thanks to a diverse group of team members across six countries, including Russia, Turkey, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Liechtenstein.

Akkuyu’s contractor, general contractor, joint venture partners and designer are all major players in the nuclear power construction sector. As Sergey Gortalov, Head of Hilti’s power plant business in Russia, explains, these stakeholders entrusted Hilti with this job on the basis of their partnership on previous Russian plant projects.

“You need only to recognize what expectations our partners have of us. It’s high quality, it’s speed of reaction, it’s innovations from designers and safety. We can do that because we are professionals, and everyone understands their role. Trust is very important to us. We have different nations and cultures and traditions and mentalities, but we’re one team with one voice.”

Generating a solution

“At Akkuyu, years before the construction fencing went up, our team was already analyzing how to introduce solutions in the form of engineered products. They convinced all Akkuyu’s stakeholders to take our cable management solution,” says Alexander Kuznetsov, International Business Developer.

“Because of the joint venture, and where we manufacture, we must consider Russian and Turkish rules. When we started to work with cable management systems on this project, the main pain points for the designer were that they needed up-to-date 3D libraries for BIM, high seismic standards for the tray supports and extra protective coating on the trays themselves.”

All solutions also had to meet strict standards established by both Russian and Turkish authorities. Hilti’s portfolio of cable management offerings, which was further extended by the acquisition of Oglaend System in 2018, already covered a wide range of applications, but it was clear that more development would need to happen.

“Due to the nature of the nuclear industry, our client has very tight technical specifications which required us to modify our products, provide extensive testing and full documentation of our offered product portfolio,” says Herman Holzer, General Manager of Oglaend System.

Hilti further simplified the process through an agreement to produce one of the main components of the system in Turkey. In a matter of months, the manufacturing operation was up and running. This helps ensure product compliance with national regulations and avoids the complexities of import.

“After the assignment, I read some information about this station and realized how excited I was to be working on it. In the early stages, deadlines for providing the engineering solution drawings and specifications were very short. The help and support from the team remains one of the key criteria for success.”

On the manufacturing side, components for Akkuyu solutions are produced in Oglaend plants in both Norway and Russia, where significant investments were made to increase output.

Elena Kokoryukina, a logistics operations manager, oversees – in some cases – the literal nuts and bolts of routing, summarizing and creating charges for customer orders. “We have a nice Russian proverb – ‘Один в поле не воин.’ In English it translates to ‘no man is an island.’ I think this is very apt for project business.”

At the nucleus

Almost 20,000 professionals stream into the Akkuyu site daily. Among the many workers are the Hilti team members there to staff our small on-site retail store, repair center and office space. Mehmet Sodemir, Sales Director for the Turkish market organization, is a frequent visitor. He oversees sales at Akkuyu and the rest of the country.

“I am so glad that we have a fantastic global team that is directly and indirectly supporting us on every dimension,” said Mehmet. “Our colleagues all around the world are ready to support us. They all know how important the project is and how their contribution makes a difference to engaging with our customer.”

After some experience in Russia, Alexey Smeshliviy, local Key Project Manager, was appointed to the role as part of Hilti’s approach to developing team members’ strengths and abilities. “Even after eight years in sales and project management, one of the most exciting and interesting parts of this work is the experience I’m now gathering,” he says. “Every day you learn something new; there’s a customer with a new challenge. But still, it’s interesting to solve the problem with the team.”