PPDI will continue to improve service
DPI, GUYANA, Thursday, August 24, 2017
The Power Producers & Distributors Incorporated (PPDI) is a government owned Operations and Maintenance Company which replaced Wartsila Operations Guyana Incorporated in the management of the four, Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) owned power plants in Demerara.
The company gave media operatives a tour of its Kingston and Vreed-en-Hoop Facilities on Thursday.
PPDI spare parts.
During the tour of their Vreed-en-Hoop facility it was noted that the plant has been in operation for three years, following its commissioning in 2014. Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Human Resource /Administration Gary Hall, disclosed that the plant provides contemporary service and has a warehouse equipped with readily available parts should the need arise.
The current three-year Operations and Maintenance Agreement, ends on 31 December, 2019. The plants under PPDI’s management are located at the Garden of Eden, Vreed-en-Hoop and the two facilities at Kingston.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PPDI, Arron Fraser said, “the scope of our service mirrors that of our predecessor. In terms of physical boundaries, PPDI responsibility for power generation stops at the outgoing feeder of the power plant- transmission and distribution remains GPL’s responsibility. The total electrical output of the plants under PPDI’s management is 106.4 megawatts.”
Fraser stated that the company is financially self-sufficient and does not require any government subvention. He added that PPDI is investigating renewable energy and will continue to work with the government and GPL.
Employees and Directors
PPDI is staffed by a team of 134 technical and administrative professionals who possess power plant operation and maintenance, context specific experience (the Guyana market) and technology of plants. Key members of the team are capable field service engineers, who in addition to working in Guyana’s power plants, have experience in similar facilities in the Caribbean and Latin America.
The team also includes other professionals who have years of power plant experience both in management and operations capacities.
The Board of Directors employs experienced professionals who provide suitable oversight of the company’s operations.
To ensure continuous learning, an antecedent of stellar performances, PPDI has invested, so far for 2017, 1966 hours of employee training – technical and administrative 579 hours. Hall said that this aspect is very important to the company.
The safety of their employees is paramount. Employees are covered by insurance and mandatory tests are conducted regularly to ensure that the plant remains up to standard. He noted that the best safety gears are purchased, highlighting there were no major or minor accidents at the plants.
Technical Performance
As part of the Operations and Maintenance Agreement, PPDI offers performance guarantees to GPL Incorporated. These performance guarantees are the industry’s key performance indicators, namely, availability, plant heat rate (which measurer’s fuel consumption) and lube oil consumption.
The table below presents these key performance indicators among others:
| 2017 | 2016 | |
| Generation (Mwh) | 375,285 | 381,347 |
| Av. HFO per Mwh (gals) | 55.80 | 58.27 |
| Availability | 93.43 | 92.00 |
Lube Oil consumption by plant measured in grams per kilowatt hour
| Guarantee to GPL | January to July 2017 | January to July 2016 | |
| Garden of Eden | 0.8 | 0.86 | 0.82 |
| Kingston | 0.8 | 1.04 | 1.33 |
| New Kingston | 0.8 | 0.63 | 0.36 |
| Vreed-en-Hoop | 0.8 | 0.39 | 0.32 |
It was also highlighted that three persons are always on shift to manage the operations of the company.
By: Gabreila Patram