Young engineer and the journey of mastering technology at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant

Continuously improve techniques

We met Nguyen Manh Thong atBan Ve Hydroelectric Plantwhen he had just finished his shift. It was the peak production season, looking at the greasy faces of Thong and his colleagues, we understood how hard the engineers and staff working here had to work to operate the largest hydroelectric plant in the North Central region.

Graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Hanoi University of Agriculture, in June 2008, Nguyen Manh Thong graduated and in August 2008, he was accepted to work at the company. Although at that time, Ban Ve Hydropower Plant was under construction, this was the largest hydropower project in the region. As a newly graduated electrical engineer, Thong understood that being in charge of the technology of a leading project was an honor and pride. He also wanted to learn about the new technologies of Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, compared to other factories that he had visited and studied. Above all, returning to his hometown to work and contribute to his homeland was something he cherished since he was still in school.

Thong said that over the past 15 years, he has held many positions in the workshop, from Deputy Head of the Petrochemical High Voltage Group; then Deputy Head of the Relay Group... and now Head of the Measurement and Control Group, performing testing, maintenance and repair of the entire secondary equipment system, control and measurement of the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant. Having held many positions and being in charge of many devices has really helped him gain a deeper understanding of the machinery system in the factory. And once he grasped and mastered the technology, it helped him complete his tasks excellently. Thanks to that, he was assigned many important tasks by the leaders in regular and major repairs. He also performed technical management of system equipment according to procedures and regulations, ensuring the highest operational reliability, contributing to the overall achievements of the company, maintaining the generators of the Ban Ve Hydropower Plant without incidents for many consecutive years.

Over the past 15 years, Nguyen Manh Thong has always been one of the pioneers in factory maintenance and repair. He was assigned to develop technical plans, testing plans, and handle major incidents and defects. In particular, in 2010, although he had just joined the company, he coordinated with DEC experts (the equipment supplier), developed a technical plan, and handled oil leaks in the 220kV current transformer at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant. By 2019, he also developed a technical plan and proposed materials to conduct real-time synchronization of the DCS system at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant. By 2020, he organized the development of a technical plan, conducted testing of primary frequency control, and calibrated PID parameters of the speed control system...

In major repairs, from 2010 to present, he and the Repair Workshop have completed major repairs for generator equipment, 220kV distribution stations and auxiliary equipment with 4 major repairs, 4 minor repairs and annual minor repairs according to plan. The repaired equipment systems always meet quality requirements, the generators operate reliably, and there are no generator outages.

In addition, he also coordinates with other professional teams in the repair workshop, the operation workshop and the Safety Engineering Department to conduct periodic equipment inspections and assessments, ensuring that the equipment operates stably, safely and effectively.

Always share the knowledge you learn with your colleagues

In addition to regularly studying and improving professional knowledge to serve his tasks. During his work, Nguyen Manh Thong also actively contributes to the internal training and self-training of the unit as well as shares the knowledge he has learned with colleagues. Since being the head of the Measurement and Control team, he has compiled and updated technological drawings, technical documents in the factory, software, system programs... storing data on the computer, uploading to Google driver and One driver to manage and share documents with team members.

In particular, in recent years, when information technology has developed rapidly, Nguyen Manh Thong has also set up a group in the Zalo application to exchange information and share documents. Using digital platforms to store documents such as: The Company's ISO9001:2015 quality management system; technical documents; circulars of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Vietnamese standards; international standards IEC; connection software; running programs of systems and equipment at the factory to share with colleagues in the team as well as colleagues at work. In addition, he also regularly reminds, guides and guides colleagues and subordinates to use the Industry's software such as: Eoffice, PMIS technical management software, online multiple-choice testing software for occupational safety and health knowledge, HRMS&KPI human resource management software, E-Learning online training program software.

He also actively supports engineers and workers in the team in performing professional tasks, from planning repairs, developing technical solutions to analyzing and handling system and equipment defects to ensure that systems and equipment operate stably, reliably and sustainably.

In particular, he has organized tutoring and training for 3 technical workers who participated in the 2020 vocational examination with good results; tutored and improved the qualifications of 2 engineers in maintenance, testing, and repair with more than 300 training sessions/person. Following the request of the workshop leader, he also participated in the team to directly guide and train 1 engineer to participate in teaching and meet the internal lecturer standards according to the regulations on internal lecturers in Vietnam Electricity Group. At the same time, he participated in the centralized training program of Vietnam Electricity Group and Power Generation Corporation 1 for expert candidates.

After many years of working, engineer Nguyen Manh Thong has also had many creative ideas in the process of performing tasks, expressed through initiatives and technical improvements to improve the reliability of equipment, reduce "redundant" operations of automatic systems but still ensure the requirements of industry standards and regulations. From 2010 to 2020, he had 5 initiatives, inventions, and production rationalizations to improve the reliability of systems and equipment in the factory, minimize the purchase of new expensive equipment and benefit the company hundreds of millions of dong. Among them, the initiative "Supplementing the design, real-time synchronization of digital relays to protect lines and busbars at TPP 220kV - Ban Ve Hydropower Plant via GPS". Or the initiative "Design and construction of a resistor system to test and evaluate battery systems with capacities from 100 - 600Ah at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant"...

With his professional duties, he also approaches the latest technologies in the field of renewable energy and has made many contributions to the implementation of the company's external services. In particular, he has participated in new service contract packages requiring high professional capacity and good skills such as: Testing and commissioning of hydroelectric plants; consulting and supervising, testing and commissioning of solar power plants; consulting and supervising wind power...

Participating in service contracts not only contributes to improving his professional capacity and skills, but also brings values ​​and benefits to the company and has been highly appreciated by the company's leaders, workshops, and partners. He has also become an expert in the field he is in charge of, and is "chosen" by many units and partners whenever needed.

With his dynamism, enthusiasm, and pioneering role in the company's activities, Nguyen Manh Thong was awarded the title of "Advanced Youth Following Uncle Ho's Teachings" by the Central Youth Union in 2020; was honored as "National Excellent Young Worker", received many Certificates of Merit from ministries, branches, Vietnam Electricity Group, Power Generation Corporation 1 and was awarded the title of Emulation Fighter at the grassroots level for many years. In particular, in 2021, he was also honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister for his outstanding achievements in work from 2016 to 2020, contributing to the cause of building socialism and defending the Fatherland.

15 years is not necessarily a long time for a person, but it is a sufficient amount of time for Engineer Nguyen Manh Thong to reach maturity in his profession. He said that working in an environment that requires discipline and high technology, he always determines his role and responsibility in the group; constantly strives to complete the task excellently, putting the interests of the group and the company first.

“As the head of a working team, I must always focus on creating programs and plans to ensure the completion of tasks. Especially, when facing new, difficult, and complicated problems, it is necessary to organize group meetings and mobilize the collective intelligence. At the same time, conduct surveys, research, and carefully evaluate the current state of equipment to come up with solutions. After each repair, draw lessons to come up with preventive measures. Only then can we ensure that the factory operates safely and at the highest efficiency,” Nguyen Manh Thong shared.