Trainees
Once more, Iounis Al-Hajri goes through the rundown of starting up the gas turbine. Everything is under control. All main and auxiliary systems have been checked and are online for the startup procedure. This is a matter of routine for the 39-year-old control room operator from Oman. For 19 years now, he has been with his employer, Wadi Al Jizzi Power Company SAOC, and is anything but a newcomer to the power industry. This time, however, the startup takes place not in his home plant, but in a simulated control room at KWS Energy Knowledge in Essen, Germany.
Mr. Al-Hajri and his two equally seasoned colleagues Ahmed Mohamad Hassan, 39, and Humiad Almusalmi, 37, are up for promotion to shift supervisors and were hand-picked by the general management of their company to get some high-intensity upgrade training in Germany prior to their new assignments.
“We’re here for two very busy weeks”, says Mr. Al-Hajri, “with a very tight schedule of simulator exercises and some theoretical instruction. It’s all very beneficial.” Mr. Hassan agrees: “Our training is very well organized and our instructor, Mr. Stürenburg, goes out of his way to answer all our questions“.
Other trainees agree. “The quality of KWS’s education is very high“, states Husain Rajab Khalil, an engineer at the Abutaraba Desalination Plant in Libya, “and we learn a great deal in our field of study. It’s a great experience. Training is very realistic and tailored to the needs at our home plant. Someone who trained here can take up his job at the power plant in Libya right away”.
John Manclark is a shift operations technician at RWE npower’s Didcot B gas-fired power plant in Britain. He trains not in Germany, but at his home plant. “Simulator training with KWS right here on location is a great help”, he says, “we can rehearse all operations procedures realistically and try things out in ways we never could during real plant operations”.
In any case, KWS leaves nothing to chance. “Every aspect of our stay in Essen has been taken care of, including visas and accommodation”, points out Wadi Al Jizzi Power Company’s Humaid Almusalmi, “and KWS has made sure that we even have time for some sightseeing”.
Husain Rajab Khalil concurs:“The surroundings in Essen are very pretty. There is so much greenery here, more than in other cities. Essen is a very pleasant and quiet city.”
