Four employees from GE. the leading global player in the power plant life cycle sector, gathered recently at the Bord Gáis Energy Whitegate Power Station to be presented with their internationally recognised City & Guilds certificates and to formally launch the partnership marking GE as an approved City & Guilds centre. The group represents the first employees to undertake the City & Guilds qualifications in Power Plant Operations, Internal Quality Assurance and Assessing Competence. They were presented with their certificates by Minister of State for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock, TD.
As an approved City & Guilds centre, GE can train their employees using City & Guilds industry standard competency-based qualifications to ensure the plant runs at full potential and that employees at all levels benefit. City & Guilds, a world-leader in vocational education, has a core purpose of enabling people and organisations to develop their skills for personal and economic growth.
It is the first time in Ireland that the City & Guilds qualification Diploma in Electric Power Engineering – Power Plant Operations has ever been delivered.
Ronan Haughey, City & Guilds Development Manager (Europe), comments: “The success of City & Guilds’ relationship with GE Power Generation Services at two locations inIrelandis a clear example of how creating innovative and sustainable relationships with a global corporation can give rise to fantastic results for both the business and its work force.”
The first employees to receive the City & Guilds qualifications: Diploma in Electric Power Engineering – Power Plant Operations, Award in Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Process & Practice and Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment were:
* Shift Supervisors: Owen Hipwell, Bord Gáis Energy Whitegate Power Station, and Paul Carr at Tynagh Power Station
* Andrew Dowling – Operations Manager of Tynagh Power Station
* Colin Murphy – Operations Manager of Bord Gáis Energy Whitegate Power Station.
This innovative and ground-breaking approach to training in the power plant life cycle sector will result in GE’s operations and maintenance team members gaining formally recognised Diplomas across two state-of-the-art combined-cycle power plant infrastructures maintained by GE in Cork and Galway.
“GE’s Power Generation Services business is committed to providing power plant lifecycle support services to help our customers optimize performance and deliver electricity to consumers globally. This partnership demonstrates GE’s leadership to train operation & maintenance personnel, driving them to the achieve customer service excellence,” explains Dick Ayres, Power Generation Services General Manager forEurope.
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Pictured are: Owen Hipwell, Minister of State for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock, TD, Kimberly Hill, Paul Carr and Rónán Haughey.