Archived News

January 2009

2007-2008 saw a huge increase in the demand for Contract Operators in both commissioning and normal operations roles. This is due to several factors, but the main ones that concern Energen have been the dramatic increase in new projects in Australia, South-East Asia and the Middle East, as well as the ageing of personnel - the “Baby Boomers” who are now retiring in greater numbers than ever before from the core industries of Energen’s business.

This period has seen our contract personnel engaged in more power stations, sugar mills, refineries and other challenging projects than ever before.

At the Alcoa World Alumina Wagerup Refinery Site in West Australia, Energen’s Glenn Murray and Tim Butters were engaged as Start-up Operators for the commissioning of two Combined Cycle Gas Turbines from October 2007 to January 2008. This project went without a hitch. Thanks for an excellent job, guys.

Following completion of the Wagerup Refinery project, our friendly Tim Butters and wife Katherine from ‘over the ditch’ (NZ) have had an adventurous assignment in West Australia at Halls Creek, a couple of hours drive south of Kununurra, as Commissioning Manager for Energy Developments Ltd on their 7 x 400 kW LNG-powered gen-sets. The project was vital to the remote area’s system security and was a very challenging job. The project ran from January 2008 through to June, and Tim and Kate were able to tour parts of the Kimberley District, as well as a company sponsored visit to Broome, in the very infrequent but welcome breaks in the commissioning programme. Although the hours were long, both Tim and Kate thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and rewarded themselves on completion with a trip on the legendary ‘Ghan’ rail back to the ‘Big Smoke’.

In Queensland, our presence at Callide B&C Stations (Biloela) has been bolstered by the addition of Frank Pritchard (after some time off for a trip to the UK), Mal Keeley, Brad Walsh, Jeff Powe, David Knowles, Roy Jones, Paul Matheson and Neil Ross (all long term Energen contractors), Paul Parry (who joined us in May 2008 after taking a ‘holiday’ from operations for his Electrical Contracting business), and Peter Chadwick and Derick Hetherington, both of whom thought they had ‘retired’ from Gladstone’s NRG power station. They are all welcomed by Alan Thwaite who will be celebrating his third anniversary at Callide in May 2009. Congratulations Alan!

In May 2008, Tarong Energy Corp needed two Contract Operators to fill a temporary shortfall because of the refit of the Siemens TXP DCS system to Units 1 & 2 (2 x 350MW). Frank Pritchard and Neil Ross were called upon. Frank is still there and may be until July 2009.

Millmerran Operating Company (2 x 420MW Supercritical units), near Toowoomba, had need of cover for a few months and welcomed Neil Ross back into their fold in August 2008. We hear that Neil would have liked to stay, but his presence was no longer required and, in October 2008, he rejoined the crew at Callide B&C. A very versatile man is our Neil.

A very interesting project we have been involved in was the Condong and Broadwater Sugar Mills Co-Generation Projects. These were two separate projects with CBH as principal contractor, but as they were very close geographically, run in conjunction. Energen supplied three Commissioning Consultants - Clive Dudman, Peter Smith and Warren Tillitzki. Clive brought extensive knowledge to the project because of his career in the generation industry as well as his time at Rocky Point Sugar Mill Biomass project as Operations Manager. Both Peter and Warren have life-long careers in power generation, finishing in upper management positions at Macquarie Generation and Bayswater Power Station respectively. The two commissioning projects were to be of 3-4 months duration, but because of continuing plant problems, continued for over 12 months, finishing in October 2008. The long hours and challenges were met head-on, and all are to be congratulated for its eventual successful completion. Owen Brischke, another of Energen’s long-term associates, took over from Peter towards the end of the project.

Clive and Peter are now at Kogan Creek Power Station near Chinchilla (750MW Supercritical), preparing Operating Procedures, Start-up, Shut-down and Pre-start Check Sheets. Also at Kogan Creek is Jeff Denley, returning to Energen after a period as Manager at Barcaldine Power Station. Welcome back Jeff and Lois (his “better half”, of course). Tim Dalton is the final member of the team and he, like Jeff, is from Liddell and Bayswater Power Stations in NSW. Both Tim and Jeff have been on this project from the start, June 2008, and have prepared a tremendous amount of excellent material. Mal Keeley was also with the team for a time, but his skills were required at the Callide A Oxy-Fuel Project from November 2008, and he was reluctantly relocated to Biloela. Lyle Alden, previously of Callide Power Station, was able to contribute his skills briefly, but a prior commitment saw him take his leave prematurely. Thank you for your help, Lyle.

In February 2008, Energen was asked to supply a Contract Operator for the Combined Cycle Gas Turbine at Barcaldine Power Station. Because of other projects, limited qualified and experienced personnel were available and, with approval from management at Barcaldine, this operation was achieved by a “tag team” comprising of Ron Fraley, Mal Keeley and Peter Lake (another newcomer to the Team, from NSW), and cover was provided in this manner through to June. Because the local people were so friendly, and with so much history in the district, all thoroughly enjoyed their stay in Barcy. Peter has now returned to his own business venture, and is now based in Melbourne. Thank’s Peter, and we wish you the very best in your new endeavour.

In May 2007, Energen was engaged to assess and report on a trial Remote Monitoring Station for the 450MW Supercritical unit at Tarong North Power Station. Tarong North was 50% owned by Tarong Energy Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), but is now wholly owned by TEC. The station is operated and maintained by Tarong Energy Corp. Ron Fraley spent a month assessing and operating from the new RMS and, although in its current form was not entirely successful, shows great potential with the suggested modifications.

It is always a pleasure when we are called upon by Tarong North, as the station is relatively new and the team is small enough to get to meet and befriend almost everyone. Energen has had a presence at TN almost constantly from the early commissioning days in 2001, and Ron stayed on to cover a shortfall in manning until a “stupid accident at home” (his own words) took him out of the picture for several months. David Knowles came to the rescue, once again, and completed the assignment in October. Dave was re-assigned to Callide Power Station, only to be brought back to Tarong North in October 2008 for another six-month term (we think that they must like him…). Ron will stand in for Dave for a month in January/February 2009, when Dave travels to China to be re-united with his family.

For a long time now, Graeme Jorgensen, Energen’s Managing Director, has had a vision of owning and operating a power station, particularly to meet a need in the power industry to recruit and train new operators. The mothballed Callide A Power Station was one that had caught his attention. This vision was thwarted when CS Energy announced in late 2005 that they were going to re-commission and modify one of the units to investigate the feasibility of “clean” coal burning technology, and geo-sequestration of at least part of the carbon dioxide gas emissions. However, Graeme was approached by Dr Chris Spero, the CS Energy Engineer behind the new technology, to assist in the planning for the O&M strategy for the Callide A Oxy-Fuel Project. Needless to say, Graeme was thrilled to have the opportunity to play a part in this exciting new project. In mid 2006, Energen assisted with an initial survey of the station to determine its condition for the project. This involved the implementation and administration of a streamlined PTW system, and providing close support for the Project Team and the key contractors including CBH and Siemens. This effort was expertly managed by Ron Fraley, and ably assisted by David Knowles.

Since August 2008, Energen has had an Oxy-fuel Project O&M Team of nine operators, including a PTW Officer, to oversee the initial refurbishment work and to operate Unit 4 to prove its reliability in normal operation. The plant will then be shut down to allow for modifications (which includes the installation of an Air Supply Unit to supply the pure Oxygen to the clean-coal burners, and the CPU for the cooling, liquefying and compression of the flue gases in preparation for geo-sequestration), to proceed. Other modifications will need to be made to the boiler before the four-year trial run begins in 2010. At present, Energen has four Shift Managers (Jeff Powe, Tim Butters, Barry Smith and Len Klip), four operators (Colin Etwell, Colin Garth, Grahame West and, of course, Mal Keeley). Bevan Rossow is our PTW Officer. They all make a great team, and we are confident that they will make a valuable contribution to the success of this unique and vitally important project.

A special thank’s to our Ron Fraley, in his role as Energen’s Oxy-fuel O&M Services Project Manager, and to Gary Reid as Energen’s Commercial Manager (ably assisted by his good wife Jenny), for their supreme efforts in getting the team recruited, mobilised and into action at Callide A, at very short notice and within a very short time. It should not have been possible, but they did it.

During the Christmas 2008 holiday period (yes, the work never stops, even at this time of the year…), Owen Brischke began a new Energen assignment to develop commissioning and operating guidelines and procedures for the new Hot Fractured Rock Geothermal pilot project being conducted by Geodynamics at it’s Innamincka site in South Australia. This is another exciting new field of power generation technology, and we are all very excited and keen to make the best possible contribution to the success of this venture. Like the Oxy-fuel Project, the HFC Geothermal project will be a really challenging test of everyone’s mettle.

Throughout the period, Energen’s commissioning and operating project services have been competently and professionally managed by Ron Fraley in his role as Energen’s Operations Services Project Manager. Ron has routinely overcome a range of challenging demands to deliver services on time every time. Variety and challenge is the spice of life – just ask Ron!

Training

Throughout 2007, our diverse and exhausting range of training services were maintained by Terry Eichmann, Owen Brischke, Ron Fraley, Mal Keeley and Graeme Jorgensen. Terry has delivered ICMS training for operating staff at Callide B&C and simulator training at Tarong, Owen has provided RTO administration services for Cosmos Technologies-Energen and managed steam certification training and assessment services for a number of Energen clients, Ron has conducted comprehensive power plant training for Callide B&C, Mal has conducted cogen power plant training and assessment for Alcoa at Pinjarra (WA) and a comprehensive training needs analysis at Mica Creek QLD), and Graeme has conducted simulator operations training and power plant and process familiarisation courses for staff at Callide.

Because of the heavy demand for operators throughout the Southern Pacific and further north, training services have been running second to the provision of commissioning and operating services in 2008. Malcolm Keeley has been appointed as Energen’s Training Services Project Manager to “restore the balance”, and to make up for lost time. Mal’s background in both operations and training can only assure success in this effort, particularly with his dedication to detail and professionalism, which are essential attributes for successful training. Congratulations Mal and best wishes in your new and vitally important role.

In addition to our core training team, we look forward to welcoming some new trainers to the team in 2009. The added support will not only enable us to maintain the high training standards which we always strive to deliver, but will also enable us to undertake new assignments and to better share the workload.

Administration

Our ability to meet the demands of a business of this scale continue to be ably met by a small and dedicated team behind the scenes, and are silently but critically important to our success. Through 2007-08, the workload simply got a lot heavier, some new challenges were dealt with, and the trend is set to continue in 2009.

Carole somehow manages to keep everything in order in her crucial role as Company Administrator (a role which now also encompasses accounting and payroll). Our other Carol (who we refer to as “Carol-HR”, in an attempt to reduce the confusion), has provided excellent support in our recruitment and engagement processes as part of her HR portfolio.

In late 2008, we were sorry to farewell Leigh, who has for a number of years provided our accounting and payroll services. Leigh completed her BSc degree (adding to her BBus), and has embarked on a new career as a Registered Nurse in the Oncology Ward at the RB&WH in Brisbane. We all wish Leigh the very best in her new field.

The Future

Despite the gloom and doom associated with the present “Global Recession”, the World population continues to increase, and with it the demand for energy. Energen continues to pursue a number of new ventures, and strives to meet a range of new challenges. There are the things which we can see and plan for, but it’s the things which come in from left-field which continue to surprise, and which always override expectations that things will slow down at some point. There’s no reason to suspect that things will be any different in 2009, and beyond. We just need to expect the unexpected, always, and be ready to seize the moment.

Thai Assignment

At Christmas 06, Mal Keeley and Ron Fraley traveled to Thailand (at very short notice…) to undertake a challenging assignment involving the commissioning and operation of two new combined-cycle power plants associated with the Kaeng Khoi Power Project, in Saraburi Province, north of Bangkok.
It goes without saying that their expertise had immediate impact on progress with the project – something which had not been achieved in the previous months. The assignment was also a great opportunity to renew an association with Rob Faulkner, who has been Site Commissioning Manager for Alstom Power Asia and engaged on this project since 2005.
Mal and Ron returned home just before Easter, and have managed to enjoy some “Family Time”, before embarking on a range of new assignments.

More Callide Action

Early in the New Year, we again were called to action (and, again, at short notice), to supply four relief operating staff for Callide Power Station. This was achieved with the co-operation and flexibility of some old, and some new Energen People: We welcome back David Knowles, and warmly welcome our “new boys”, Peter Smith from NSW, Paul Matheson from SA, and Neil Ross and Lawrence James from Queensland.
During this time, we also farewelled Chris Roberts who has been engaged with Energen at Callide for more than a year. Chris and wife Christine are embarking on a long-promised holiday in the UK. Bon voyage, and best wishes, Chris and Christine.

Training at Callide & Tarong

With two of our key trainers in Thailand, the task of maintaining our long-running Operations training services fell to Owen Brischke, Terry Eichmann and Graeme Jorgensen. Terry completed a long stint at Tarong, while Graeme and Owen maintained services at Callide (with Terry rejoining the Callide assignment in March).
During this time, Graeme conducted a “trial” course, “Power Plant & Unit Cycle Principles”, for maintenance staff at Callide. The new training experience was well-received by the participants, and achieved excellent outcomes. On the strength of this, we look forward to conducting more unique and beneficial learning experiences for non-operations power station staff in the future.

Mount Isa Mission

Also early in the New Year, we began a new assignment to provide services at the Mica Creek Power Station in Mount Isa. This began with Owen Brischke undertaking initial training services involving Steam Certificate training and assessment services.
This was closely followed by Kim Tilt conducting a plant survey in preparation for an Isolation Point Lock-out Project which should get underway shortly. Mal Keeley has just begun a training needs survey involving Operating staff, as a first step in designing and conducting a comprehensive operations training programme.

Variety: The Spice of Life, and Business!

While most of us have been busy with the various project assignments, our Reon Weir has been pursuing a number of new and unusual projects. These range from the provision of refinery-based power plant maintenance planning services for an overseas project, the provision of commissioning and training services for a new combined-cycle power plant project, the provision of consulting and commissioning services for new biomass-fuelled cogeneration power plant projects, the provision of engineering and operations services to “tune” the cogeneration power plant associated with a nickel/cobalt refining process, a collaborative arrangement to deliver overseas training services for a new refinery-based power plant, delivery of training services for a new single-cycle GT-based power plant in WA, and the development of O&M manuals for a new supercritical power plant… to mention just a few. There’s never a dull moment..!

Continuing Services

Other than our ongoing training services at Callide and Tarong, we continue to be involved with assignments for Alcan at Gove (through our Colin Hains), and for Hitachi at Kogan Creek (through our Steve Caldow). The length of our association with these projects, in particular, is testament to the quality of services being provided. Congratulations and well-done, Colin and Steve, and very special thank’s to all of the Energen Team for keeping the wheels turning so well, despite the challenges.

 

Clean Coal Technology

Energen has just begun an exciting new project providing Plant Access Safety System (PTW) and Operations Services in support of the Oxy-Fuel Research Project being conducted at Callide A Power Station. The project, led by Dr Chris Spero and with Franko Montagner as Project Engineer, is a joint venture involving CS Energy, the Coal21 Consortium, J-Coal, and co-operative research centres, and aims to prove a technique for concentrating and collecting CO2 for sequestration – a key project in the drive for “clean coal” power generation technologies.

The services for the first phase of the Project – a plant survey conducted with the Oxy-fuel Project Team, CBH, Siemens, IHI Japan and IHI Engineering Australia – were developed and successfully delivered by our Ron Fraley, David Knowles and Graeme Jorgensen. We now look forward to the next phases of the Project – the plant refurbishment and modification, and its recommissioning and operation in “Oxy-fuel mode” - starting sometime in 2007.

Energen’s selection to provide the Operations Services for this leading-edge Project is evidence of our commitment and capability to be at the forefront of our industry, and particularly to provide innovative solutions which support novel and challenging projects.

Project Activities

Points North: Energen recently began supplying contract power plant commissioning supervisors to support Alcan’s major refinery expansion project - known as the G3 Project - at Gove, in the Northern Territory. This is a major project which includes a range of both new and refurbished power plant and systems, and one which presents an exciting challenge for the skilled Energen personnel involved.

Gone West: Following fast on the heels of a brand new and highly successful GT-integrated Cogeneration Plant Operator training programme which was recently completed at Alcoa’s Pinjarra refinery in Western Australia, Energen’s number one trainer in the GT-HRSG field, Mal Keeley, has returned to Pinjarra to conduct a new practical competency assessment programme.

This is based on a novel assessment process which focuses on real plant operations, issues and problems. Trials of the new approach were very well received by the Pinjarra Powerhouse operators, particularly as the process closely mirrors the unique training method which was adopted for the programme.

Flight Deck: Energen welcomes a new team member, Colin Hains, from Perth WA, who has just begun his first assignment as a power plant commissioning supervisor on Alcan’s G3 refinery expansion project at Gove, NT. Colin joins Energen with a wealth of experience gained on projects throughout SE Asia, and we expect that he will make a valued contribution in his new role, and in future assignments with Energen.

Another familiar face (from an earlier assignment as a key member of Energen’s commissioning team for the Swanbank E Combined-cycle Power Plant Project), Steve Caldow, has rejoined the Team as a Commissioning PTW Officer with Hitachi at the Kogan Creek Power Project.

We also welcome someone new to the Team who will be well known to many, Reon Weir, from Noosa, Qld. Reon has a long history in the power industry in Queensland, and joins Energen in an exciting new Business Development role.

And another new face on the Flight Deck, Carol, from Brisbane, Qld, has come on board to take tender care of Energen’s human resources portfolio. Carol joins Leigh, also based in Brisbane, who has been looking after the payroll and accounting functions for the past year, and Carole (Sunshine Coast), who manages the business and Company administration functions.

A special welcome and best wishes to our new team members. We are confident that you will provide our clients with the same highly-competent, professional and valued services which are eagerly delivered by our existing team.

Overseas: After departing for a “brief” assignment in October 2005 (it was only supposed to be one month…), Rob Faulkner is still battling the odds with the construction and commissioning of two combined cycle units at Kaeng Khoi in Thailand..! We hope that he will be home soon, and not too exhausted to renew his involvement in some of our Australian projects.

Out there! As for the rest of the team, still on active duty (or enjoying well-earned R&R):

• Terry Eichmann, Ron Fraley and Graeme Jorgensen continue to deliver operations training services for Callide B & C power stations (and Terry is also delivering operations training at Tarong Power Station).
  
  
• Chris Roberts and Alan Thwaite continue to provide shift operating support at Callide B & C (Brad Walsh, Frank Pritchard and Roy Jones are enjoying long overdue holidays after their tours of duty at Callide).
  
  
• Owen Brischke is buried in the backroom preparing Energen for RTO services (under Cosmos Technologies), as well as conducting various training assignments (including Callide B & C, and Tarong), and working on the development of an exciting new web-based service for Energen.
  
  
• Dave Knowles is having a well-earned break (home-working!), after a long stint on shift operations at Tarong North, and more recently as PTW Officer at Callide A for the Oxy-Fuel Project plant survey.
  
  
• After completing assignments at Playford B (SA), and Millmerran (Qld) power stations, David Hough has recently returned from a three-month holiday in Europe with his family. Now that’s real R&R..!
  
  
• Chris John has moved on from a post as commissioning supervisor at the Alcan Gove G3 Expansion Project, to a commissioning role with Downer Energy at the Huntly Combined Cycle Power Project in New Zealand.
  
  
• After completing a commissioning assignment with UKG at the CSR Pioneer Sugar Mill Cogeneration Power Project, Terry Swales is now engaged on another power plant commissioning project in Thailand.

Kim Tilt, Brad Jacobs and John Krebs are also enjoying a well-earned break after a long project fabricating and fitting mechanical isolation point locking devices at Tarong Energy sites (including the Tarong and Wivenhoe power stations, and the Wivenhoe-Tarong pipeline).