Southampton-based apprenticeship provider SETA is celebrating after Marchwood Power Limited turned to them for a new trainee engineer.

Ryan Doran is part of the new in-take of young apprentices at SETA – Southampton Engineering Training Association – and is employed by the firm running the new £380m natural gas combined cycle power plant on the Marchwood Industrial Estate.

The 18-year-old from Alton is training to be an Electrical/Control & Instrumentation Engineer at the plant. He will spend his first year at SETA working towards an NVQ 2 and starting his BTEC Electrical/Electronics before going on site at the Power Station next year, where he will do an NVQ 3 on the job.

It is anticipated he will have to do a four-year apprenticeship, with a view to a permanent role at the power station.

Ryan, who has had county trials for rugby and athletics, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to learn and develop my Engineering skills and abilities at SETA and then put them to work at Marchwood.

“SETA is a great place to learn and I am picking up really important new skills and processes that will help me when I go and work on the site.”

Marchwood Power Limited generates enough electricity to supply the needs of nearly one million homes – equivalent to the combined energy needs of Southampton, the New Forest and Winchester.

The facility uses the latest technology to ensure maximum energy efficiency and minimal impact on the environment and is one of the most efficient generators of electricity in the UK.

David Hamlyn, training manager at Marchwood Power, said: “We are excited about this new relationship with SETA. We often need apprentices and the grounding they get at SETA stands them in good stead for working on the site.”

Richard Heighington, Chief Executive of SETA, said: “We are delighted that Marchwood Power has recognised the quality of the apprenticeship programmes we have here and become the latest big employer in the south to turn to us for their new engineering recruits.”

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Please click here to view an article in the Southern Daily Echo based on this release.

Marchwood Power is the first large-scale gas-fired power plant to enter commercial operation in the UK since 2004. At its maximum output, the station generates enough electricity to supply around one million homes – the equivalent total needs of Southampton, the New Forest and Winchester.

Constructed over a three year period by Siemens, the project was delivered within budget. Marchwood Power currently employs 45 full-time staff and all of its output is contracted to SSE.

Lochlann Quinn, ESB Chairman and Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of SSE officially opened the plant. They were joined by senior executives from both companies including Padraig McManus, Chief Executive of ESB and Graham Juggins, Chairman of Marchwood Power Ltd.

Graham Juggjns said: “Everyone involved in Marchwood Power’s development and construction must be congratulated. It is the first major gas-fired power station to be built in the UK since 2004 and, notably, came in on budget. In addition, the project benefits hugely from the close working relationship with representatives of the local community which was established during the development of the project.”

Padraig McManus, ESB Chief Executive, said: “The opening of Marchwood Power is a significant milestone in the expansion of ESB’s presence in the UK energy market. In addition, our wind generation interests and other gas-fired development projects place ESB on course to achieve its target of providing over 3GW of generation capacity in the UK within the next ten years. With the anticipated emergence of a single UK-Irish energy market over the next decade, our UK generation interests along with our established presence in Ireland will ensure that ESB is well-positioned to respond to the market challenges and opportunities that are likely to arise.”

As part of a series of comprehensive tests, we are operating the power plant for different periods of time and we are generating electricity into the National Grid at varying levels. These tests are designed to check the reliability and efficiency of the power station, and to ensure that it runs safely without any incident. These tests will continue until we are 100% satisfied that the station is operating as it should for commercial operation.

River Test discharge
In May, we reported on a harmless white foam discharge into the River Test and in July we posted a bulletin on the Parish Council noticeboards, on the Parish website and this website to update people on the matter. To recap, initial scientific tests had confirmed that the foaming had been caused by jelly fish entering the station’s water intake and outfall, and after further examination by marine biologists it was shown the foam was made up of other organic material as well as jelly fish.

Whilst the foam has not been causing any harm to the plant and marine life in the Test, we considered the visual impact to be unacceptable and have been working closely with the Environment Agency and Siemens, the power station contractor, to identify a solution to the problem. We have introduced a number of measures (for example, booms and sprays) but further work is still required by Siemens and ourselves to find a long-term engineering solution. We are concentrating on reducing the turbulence of the water that goes through the station in order to stop the foam being generated. The matter was considered at the Local Liaison Group (July 9th), chaired by Councillor David Harrison. Representatives of the Environment Agency were present at the meeting.

Supporting the local community
The Solar4Schools programme has been completed with six schools in the area benefiting from the scheme, part-funded by the Government and Marchwood Power. We understand that the reaction from pupils and teachers has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Looking ahead, we are starting to consider other initiatives to support the Marchwood area in order to build upon the success of the solar programme and our other educational work. With the Parish Council, we are looking at ways to improve the local landscape in and around Marchwood, and we intend to invite people, in particular local students and local community groups, to visit the station when we are formally open for business.

This Development Update will be published in the September issue of the Marchwood Village News.

Given the scale and complexity of the power station, a comprehensive series of checks and test runs will continue to be carried out by the project contractor, Siemens, and the Marchwood Power team over the coming weeks and months. This work is necessary to ensure that the station is ready to run commercially later this year..

As we are moving towards the final stages of the construction programme, the number of workers on site and deliveries to the site are steadily reducing. In April, we had about 400 people on site and that number will drop further month on month.

Overall, we are pleased with the progress that is being made and, assuming that there aren’t any unforeseen glitches, we remain on track towards commercial operation.

Contrary to what some people may have thought, the firing of our gas turbines in March was not the cause of the power cut that unfortunately took place in some parts of Marchwood on the very same evening. We hadn’t started up at the time of the power cut and had never planned to generating electricity into the grid that evening. It was an unfortunate co-incidence affecting the local electricity network.

Solar panels for local schools
In the March update, we reported that three local schools had installed solar panels, through the Government’s Solar4Schools scheme and part-funded by Marchwood Power. The schools were Applemore College, Orchard Junior in Dibden Purlieu and Hounsdown School in Totton. Since then, Hythe Primary and Totton College have completed their installations. In April, Hythe’s installation was featured on BBC Radio Solent and pictured in the Daily Echo. And we hope to have solar panels fitted at Orchard Infants very shortly.

Whilst the solar panels will save each school approximately £500 per year on their energy bills and each school receives an “energy resource pack” that will be used in lessons, as part of the national curriculum, we have been told that the response from children at each of the schools has been incredibly positive.

Where the Solar4Schools aren’t appropriate for our local schools, then we are looking at alternative ways to assist. For example at Marchwood Infants we are investigating the installation of special fans to improve the energy efficiency of the school and we have given financial support to Hartley School’s bid to become a Business & Enterprise College.

Local Liaison Group
The group, chaired by Councillor David Harrison, met with us in April and they were able to tour the power station and see for themselves the progress that has been made. Among the issues, raised during the tour and at the meeting that followed, were the landscaping of the station site, National Grid’s transmission lines and the station’s commissioning work. The next meeting of the Liaison Group is scheduled for July.

This Development Update will be published in the June edition of Marchwood Village News.