Articles/interviews
Shota Melikidze, engineer
Shota Melikidze is a professional mechanic. He has been working at the Shuakhevi HPP since 2015. On the construction phase his responsibility was the construction of turbines, today he is responsible for the proper functioning of those turbines.
Shota’s workday starts with Shuakhevi HPP campsite. Engineers meet at the morning breakfast and move to the power station together where they start planning a day.
“First thing I do when I arrive at the station is that I check everything from the first floor to the last one to make sure that everything is in order after the last night. My job is related to mechanical works, thus, daily monitoring of the process is very important” – states Shota.
Shota’s work in the energy sector starts with Parvani HPP. In 2015, he engaged in the Shuakhevi HPP project where he originally started working for AGL’s contractor company ALSTOM, the latter was responsible for the installation of Shuakhevi HPP turbines. After Shuakhevi HPP started electricity generation, Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC offered him long-term cooperation and he agreed to join the company.
“Every stage of Shuakhevi HPP development, both construction and operation phases are equally interesting. In the construction phase, you are constantly involved in the process, you have the specific goal you need to achieve. While the operation phase is more calm. You have the specific plan you follow, the equipment utilized is so high quality that the probability of detecting any significant problem or wear of any detail prior to the expiration date is practically minimized. On the operation phase, my job is to conduct monitoring of the process, plan and implement preventive actions if needed” – states Shota.
Similar to Shota, the majority of Georgian engineers are connected to Shuakhevi HPP from the construction to operation phase. Shota believes that looking back at those years, the best thing he experienced was working with representatives of fifteen different countries, cooperating with them, and sharing their experiences.
“Shuakhevi HPP is already operated by Georgian engineers, but during the construction phase we hosted representatives of fifteen countries who had experience in working for the world’s largest energy projects, I learned something new and interesting from them every single day. When I started working in the energy sector, I only spoke Russian in addition to my native language, apart from the technical knowledge I acquired in the process, I learned two languages additionally – English and Turkish” – declares Shota Melikidze.
He believes that Shuakhevi HPP significantly contributed to the development of the energy sector when it enabled many young engineers to acquire theoretical knowledge and practical experience. This project brought up a new generation of engineers who now ensure electricity generation safely and without any technical challenges.
