SUCCESS STORY

 

 

Client Profile:

ATTALA GENERATING

Attala Generating is an electrical co-generating company located in the very small community of Sallis, MS (pop 139). With 24 employees in the entire company, Attala Generating was looking to restart their plant after being dormant for over a year.

Situation:

In order to successfully restart their operations, Attala Generating needed training in the Mark VI control systems that handle gas turbines. In conjunction with MEP of Mississippi partner Holmes Community College, the company determined that training would need to focus on the following areas:

       • System Overview
       • Troubleshooting
       • Set-up
       • Part configuration and layout

In addition to the Mark VI control systems, basic training and troubleshooting was also required on the GE EX2000 Excitation System and an LCI system.

In addition to the issue of training in such specific hardware and systems, Attala Generating needed a location that would allow for this type of training for a group of 13 employees. The location is key because GE’s trainers would need to reconfigure a computer to act as a control system interface in order to properly train the employees..



Solution:

In conjunction with MEP of Mississippi partner Holmes Community College, the company located a trainer from Arizona who could conduct the training and Holmes Community College used $11,000 of their own funds to help reconfigure a classroom to accommodate the training.

The course covered the basics of looking around in the system and troubleshooting problems that arise. It also provided trainees with the basic background of how the Mark IV system is set up, and what each piece of hardware does and provided troubleshooting training on the hardware itself. On the EX2000 system and LCI System, a day was spent covering how this system works as well as basic troubleshooting.

In addition to the contribution to the classroom, Holmes Community College MEP center was able to secure $2500 of state workforce development funds to assist Attala Generating.

Results:

Thirteen employees were trained in the use of the systems and are now prepared for start-up of plant operations.

“I just wanted to take a minute and thank the staff at Holmes for all the work they did in preparation for our class. I have spoken with my team members that attended the training, and everyone had only good things to say about the training room and helpfulness of the staff there. Please give everyone my thanks for a job well done.”

Ray Burrell
Plant Manager
Attala Generating Plant