Company Overview:
Khobab Wind Farm achieved its Commercial Operations Date on schedule and on budget, as part of the third round of the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
Khobab Wind Farm received support from the local municipality and surrounding communities during the construction phase and into operations. A number of economic development projects, aimed at contributing to sustainable community growth through financial and non-financial community development involvement. During the operations, a monetary commitment has been made to specifically developing enterprises and improving the socio-economic welfare of the community for 20 years.
Situated in the Hantam Municipal Area, 60km north of Loeriesfontein in the Northern Cape, Khobab Wind Farm spans 3,453 hectares of agricultural land and comprises sixty-one 99m-high wind turbines.
When operating at full capacity, the 140MW Khobab Wind Farm generates around 563,500 MWh/year of clean renewable energy per year and is expected to supply electricity to power up to 120 000 South African homes.
Summary of Role :
To ensure the availability of the electrical network by executing the planning, operating, maintenance, repairs and building work in accordance with policies, directives, standards, regulations, procedures, work practices, guidelines and agreements up to and including 132 kV
Report to the Senior Plant Supervisor and take the senior role in the absence of the Senior Plant Supervisor. Be a mentor to Plant Operators and other junior staff.
What you will do:
Maintain:
- Inspecting, evaluating and executing non-intrusive maintenance on apparatus in the substation, control room, switch gear room, overhead & underground lines, including transformers, junction and combiner boxes and back-up generator equipment
- Ensuring low impedance earth paths and earth resistivity by electrical testing, observations and applying remedial actions.
- Inspecting, replenishing and replacing the following on/in transformers, NECs, breakers, isolators: Silica gel, Insulating, cooling and arc control medium, lubrication and electrolytes.
- Analysing and capturing current operating values on transformers, lines, AC/DC systems and feeders. (e.g. Current, voltage, loading, charging rates and temperatures)
- Ensuring conformance to plant and equipment component alignment, contact pressure, insulation levels, anti-decay/oxidation and electrical clearance requirements.
- Planning and executing operating and barricading on HV/MV/LV networks to ensure safe working sites (Switching, linking, safety testing and earthing)
Repair:
- Respond to call outs from the plant manager or designated person and/or automated calls and sms notifications during abnormal conditions and power supply interruptions on a 24-hour basis to minimise network downtime on a standby basis
- Analyses network fault indicators by
- Interpreting, logging, resetting and reporting relay flags and indicators, breaker and fuse status and counter movements.
- Providing feedback to the plant manager or designated person via agreed means of communication.
- Liaise with the local Eskom control centre regarding switching or trips causing 10% or more loss of electrical network capacity.
- Executing operating under permission of control.
- Rapidly restores the electrical network by:
- Planning, negotiating and executing system reconfiguration to restore supply.
- Executing restoration within the competency and resource constraints to only a
- minimum (safe) specification to restore supply.
- Activating additional resource requirements to execute immediate restoration
- the plant manager or support staff
- Being on standby
Build:
- Creates assets on networks up to and including 132 kV in accordance with policies, directives, standards, regulations, procedures, work practice, guidelines and agreements
- Commissions new plant by
- Evaluating plant for conformance to installation and design specification (phasing, phase rotation, settings, voltage and loading).
- Planning and negotiating system commissioning procedure.
- Executing plant hand over procedure.
- Updates information systems by:
- Completing plant, commercial operation sheets and asset register.
- Updating data files and revising diagrams.
Health and Safety:
- Ensures a safe working environment and eliminate unsafe acts complying with statutory, including OHRVS and the wind farms requirements.
- Executing safety inspections
- Complying to wind farm and statutory requirements
- Review of contractor’s risk assessments and method statements, and ensure compliance thereto
Training:
- Provides on the job training to Plant Operators and other junior staff in training
- Demonstrating safe work practices, use and care of tools and equipment.
- Informing staff of changes on requirements, policies, directives, standards, regulations, procedures, work practice, guidelines and agreements
Other:
- Perform and support activities on wind farm other than electrical network as required
- Management of contractor other than electrical network as required
- Support the Senior Plant Supervisor on wind turbine related activities
- Ensuring that all appropriate records of operations and maintenance activities on site are complete and easily accessible as required.
- Liaison with & reporting to Plant Manager, as needed
- Support the Senior Plant Supervisor to ensure overall site Health and Safety
- Manage the processes by which site data is handled and analysed and ensuring that all proactive monitoring is carried out effectively with appropriate alarms and failures being directed via the appropriate channels
- Daily Reporting & Monitoring
- Assist with Performance, Downtime and Availability Analysis
- Preparing monthly reports and submit for review by required deadlines
- Following up significant performance issues either internally or with appropriate 3rd parties
- Review all service/maintenance records and any issues identified.
- Procurement functions for the site.
- Managing the responses of the Operations Engineers to local concerns/PR/site visits
- Ongoing development of systems and procedures to improve efficiency
What we require:
The Senior Plant Operator will have appropriate technical skills, knowledge and experience. An excellent working knowledge of MS Office Suite is required. The position requires an organised approach. The Senior Plant Operator may have to liaise with other engineering disciplines as and when required.
Experience & Qualifications
- Minimum 7 years relevant applicable work experience, switching and operating up to 132kV in a similar environment will be advantages
- Competency certificate in OHRVS
- Relevant electrical trade test with N4 Certificate or equivalent technical qualification
- Valid Driver’s licence
- Willingness to further develop skills and experience, through further education and training
Location
The position will be based on site at Khobab Wind Farm in Loeriesfontein, with travel to Cape Town and other sites in South Africa as required. Periodically it may be required to work at other sites in operation for short periods of time.
Why you really should click that button 👇
We offer you the opportunity to work in a dynamic and entrepreneurial organisation, to be part of a diverse workplace with regards to gender, age and cultural background in the most exciting industry in the world today. You will receive a very competitive total benefits package including an excellent base salary, bonus scheme and share options.
Career development
- Excellent training (an average 54 hours a year)
- Secondment and relocation opportunities
- Career progression (16% promotions across the Group in 2021)
- Self-paced online learning portal for micro courses across a range of functional and interpersonal skills
Shared financial success
- A competitive, industry benchmarked and cost-of-living linked salary, reviewed annually
- Annual bonus
- Salary contribution to your pension fund
Work/life balance
- Generous annual leave, plus a community or charity work day each year
- Paid maternity, parental, adoptive and bereavement leave
True diversity & inclusion
- Equal opportunity targets
- You can be you, whatever your gender, colour or sexual orientation
Care for health & wellbeing
- Generous health insurance subsidy
- Income protection insurance
- Life cover
- Free Employee Assistance Program
These are just some of the reasons why we are officially certified as a Great Place to Work.
Apply for this job now and see how we can energise your career!