* Author: Manuel José Rato Rodríguez *
People seem to think that having access to electricity is something straightforward that just involves flipping a switch in the home. This is not actually the case. That simple gesture is preceded by a number of processes, including the generation of electricity, involving a huge number of systems and people that work on a coordinated basis to ensure that everything works in real time and that we can meet our customer’s needs.
I joined Iberdrola and the Jose María de Oriol Hydroelectric Power Plant in December 2005 as an operation and maintenance technician. This installation has been in operation for 45 years with an installed capacity of 915.20 megawatts (MW). I am one of the members of the team that ensures that it operates to full capacity.
There are two sides to my job: on the one hand, what I do during my normal working hours, when I mostly carry out scheduled maintenance activities to ensure that the entire facility is always in perfect working order. On the other hand, for about a week every month, I am on call after my normal working hours are over.
Hydroelectric power plants do not require personnel on site on a permanent basis because they are managed remotely from the Operation Centre in Cuenca. My responsibility when on call after normal working hours is to be locatable and available at any time to go to the complex and deal with any exceptions that may arise to ensure that everything works properly.
The speed and effectiveness of intervention is crucial for the quality of supply and also for the safety of the plant. That always has to be our overriding goal, without jeopardising our own personal safety.
I have always lived and worked in this area. I’m one of the lucky people that has been able to live and work in a place where I can enjoy my personal hobbies and that is probably why I never looked for work anywhere else. When you start working on an on-call basis you have to adapt to the new situation. You know that at any time you can receive a call and that when that happens, you have to put on your work clothing and take your individual protection equipment to the location in the shortest possible time.
I work in the municipality of Alcántara, in the province of Cáceres. For those of you who are not familiar with this area, I would recommend a visit, particularly if you like history, visiting monuments or being in the open air. You will definitely want to come back. My main hobby is fishing and I enjoy it all the more when I’m accompanied by my son, who is my assistant and inseparable companion. Obviously, it is not hard to find a suitable place to fish for carp, barbel, pike-perch or tench in Extremadura, as we have a reservoir covering 10,400 hectares and a huge number of smaller reservoirs and ponds to choose from.
