14 July 2009 10:17
E.ON's Engineering Academy, helping bring power from the Midlands to Mongolia

E.ON's pioneering Engineering Academy has welcomed a team of power workers from a Mongolian energy company to see the work that goes into training the next generation of UK engineers.

Senior staff from the Ulaanbaatar Electricity Distribution Network Company (UBEDN), along with Mongolian government energy official Dolgor Baldorj, toured the Engineering Academy site at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire.

On the two-day visit they viewed the power station control room simulator and training school for overhead linesmen, as well as touring Ratcliffe itself.

David Bryson, Head of E.ON's Engineering Academy, said: "We're the UK's only Centre of Vocational Excellence for electrical power and I'm glad that our visitors found their trip worthwhile.

"We've helped train engineers not only from countries from as far afield as Malaysia and Nigeria, but also British forces who've then helped rebuild the energy infrastructure in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan."

State-owned UBEDN supplies power to an area around the Mongolian capital which is home to about 1.2 million people. Rapid economic growth means the power network has to expand quickly while technical difficulties are made worse by the country's climate; with temperatures ranging from an average maximum 35^oC in summer to average minimum -35^oC in winter.

Nyam Puntsagnorov, UBEDN's director of distribution said of the visit: "The power plant was very impressive - they are passionate about their work.

"It was very impressive to visit the training facilities. We were very impressed with the practical elements available; this would be something that we would like to work towards.

"We were very happy with our visit to E.ON and we imagine this is what our energy company should look like in the future."

The team also visited E.ON's distribution business at its headquarters in Castle Donington, paying close attention to the customer call centre and network management operations.

"The care given to customers was also interesting," Mr Puntsagnorov said. "Dealing with customers is the most difficult part of our business and we were very impressed with how they fulfil the different requirements."

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company;
• E.ON's Engineering Academy is the UK's only Centre of Vocational Excellence for Electrical Power, the Engineering Academy offers training courses and apprenticeships in all aspects of power generation, electrical distribution and transmission - most of which result in nationally recognised qualifications.

For more information contact:
Andrew Barrow on 024 7618 3677