In April of 2024, APM Gas Power responded to an emergent outage request with unusual circumstances. Led by Maury George, Nate Christensen, and Jason Cramer, a team of 30 APM craftspersons were called to an outage at Alon Tavor Power Plant in Israel. The scope of the job entailed a hot gas path inspection with a generator minor.

          Since this was the first-time appearance for APM at Alon Tavor, there were many unknown factors that arose about sending the team to the site. Nevertheless, the hand-picked crew spent ample time preparing to ensure outage success. According to Senior Operations Division Leader, Mike Benacquisto, “Since the job was in Israel, work visas were required, and early morning Teams meetings were conducted to ensure things were set up correctly. None of our crew had been to the site previously, so a lot of detailed preparation was executed during mobilization”.

          During the outage, there were many learnings to be taken from the crew’s experience onsite. First, the teams had to revolve their schedules around temperatures rising to 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Secondly, a STOP moment occurred while the crew was focused on the generator minor. Superintendent, Nate Christensen, did not feel comfortable with the way he was asked to reassemble the generator, so he stopped work to call his manger escalate his concerns and request additional guidance. This attention to detail and care helped GE Vernova and the end customer design a corresponding plan of action. Following the outage, Mike had this to say about the crew’s experience, “This was the majority of the crew’s first time working on a 9FA unit, although they have all worked on 7FA units. This was a Live Outage job, and the team worked to make sure it was utilized to the best of everyone’s ability. During the heat wave, it briefly shut down from overheating”.

          Despite the challenges of many kinds in the foreign region, the crew worked diligently with safety and quality at the forefront. The 7,000-hour job was completed with ZERO safety or quality issues, and the crew received high praise for their contributions to the outage’s success. We are immensely proud of the crew for their performance at Alon Tavor. Congrats and HUGE kudos to the team for your success in Israel!