Power station trains new generation of apprentices

While Great Yarmouth may be widely known as a seaside tourist attraction, it is also home to a power station keeping 300,000 homes switched on and connected to the grid.

The Great Yarmouth Power Plant, operated by energy company RWE, opened in 2002 and is supplied by the Bacton gas terminal, which provides up to one third of the UK's gas power supply.

Since 2010, the site has welcomed 11 apprentices and currently has 32 employees.

"It's a real team effort here," said Sam Woodgate, an employee. "You have to come together and overcome some of the challenges presented to us."

After starting at the power station in 2010, Woodgate, 34, has remained there ever since and went on to complete an apprenticeship and degree supported by the company.

He said: "Every day is different. You could come in and everything's been fine and you can get on with what you expect to do or you could come in and something has gone wrong and you have to figure out how you're going to fix it."

Gas arriving from the Bacton terminal is filtered and heated before being fed into the gas turbine to be combusted.

Woodgate describes the turbine as being like a "large jet engine".

The combusted gas turns a power turbine, which in turns drives a shaft to generate electricity. The power then feeds into the local grid and is distributed to homes.

However, the firm is also exploring options for energy security.

Woodgate, now a project engineer involved in managing some of the company's decarbonisation projects, said: "We appreciate there's wind turbines and a big push for renewables in the UK. However, the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine, so we are going to need gas via power generators for the future."

While Woodgate undertook an apprenticeship in 2010, Connor Silom, 28, is about to finish his.

"I wasn't too interested in engineering at school - I was a bit of a joker," said Silom.

"I've only been at the company for three years. I joined when I was 25. I had no clue how a generator worked or how electricity is generated. Since moving through my apprenticeship and understanding how things fit together, it's really interesting."

In his current role, he looks after and calibrates equipment, making sure conditions are set perfectly for the plant to run smoothly.

"It's all about perfection and being able to get the most efficiency out of the station, as well as operating safely and reliably as often as possible," he said.

Despite not knowing what he wanted to do when he was at school, he is due to finish his apprenticeship soon and move into a full-time role as a control and instrumentation technician.

"There's been opportunities I never would have imaged possible experiencing on an apprenticeship," he said.

"Apprenticeships aren't all about what you know. Ultimately, when you apply for an apprenticeship, they're there to assess your character - be yourself."

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