The
Maintenance Department at Rugeley is responsible for the engineering
and maintenance issues associated with a 1000MW coal fired power
station. The station carries out much work in-house but contracts
out for non-core and peak activities. Rugeley still carries out
its own turbine overhauls which allows the maintenance team to respond
quickly to breakdowns and limits exposure to expensive contracts
except for work requiring specialist knowledge and equipment not
available in-house.
Being part of a modern company, the engineering skills required need to be wide ranging. We have flexible staff skilled in the traditional engineering and civil trades right through to IT and modern process control technology. Along with all this comes the need for statutory compliance with all current legislation and a high degree of commitment to health and safety. The department is also responsible for engineering projects from design and costing, through to implementation. Some of this is driven by the need to update plant as spares may no longer be available (Rugeley was designed and commissioned in the late 1960's)
In order to keep the plant efficiency high and maintenance costs low, it is necessary to install the latest equipment, especially for process control. In the recent past, all the "hard" control desks have been replaced with a "soft" computer system. This was driven largely by the need to replace out of date computer process control equipment. This was a large project costing several million pounds. A small project team was set up to oversee the work, from the tendering stage through installation and commissioning. The project presented many challenges as it had to be installed alongside the old system in order to minimise the effect on production. As a result of running the project this way, we have a system which has been tailor-made for Rugeley rather than an IT company bolt-on system. In 2002, the number seven machine underwent an eleven week overhaul in which both high pressure and intermediate pressure turbine rotors were replaced; the alternator rotor was also replaced. Our own staff largely carried out this massive task, with specialist advice coming from a small team of specialist advisors and contractors. The overhaul was completed and the machine returned to service on time. Looking to the future, the department has recently taken on two apprentices on a four-year Modern Apprenticeship Scheme. They will initially be trained in the skill areas to give them a good grounding in maintenance. After this they will be trained in one of the core skills. It is hoped that we will continue to employ more apprentices to provide replacement craftspersons for succession planning purposes. At Rugeley, we have a maintenance team who are committed to their role and are able to respond to any task or situation should the need arise. |
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