Guyana’s ‘Energizer Bunnies’… How two 26-year-old engines confounded Wartsila

Mar 29, 2020 News

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In 1994…some 26 years ago…Guyana was badly in need of more power. Its aging generators were unable to keep up with the growing demand for power and inefficiency was the order of the day.
The then government, under Dr. Cheddi Jagan, in searching around, zeroed on a Finnish engine manufacturer, Wartsila, which had made a name for itself in building generators for ocean-going vessels.

Two engines were ordered and in 1994, at Garden of Eden, East Bank of Demerara, a power plant was commissioned, with two 5.5-megawatts engines installed.
Those 11 megawatts were a major boost to the generation capacity of the country.
Wartsila was handed the contract of maintenance and operations of the engines.
Since then, five more power plants were built…at Anna Regina, Essequibo, Skeldon, Kingston, Georgetown, and at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Demerara, using Wartsila engines.
Today, Wartsila’s contracts for the operations of the engines of the four power plants in Demerara have ended, with Power Producers and Distributors Inc. (PPDI), a state-owned entity now in charge.
It is the story of those first two engines at Garden of Eden which has been confounding Wartsila.
Guyana, for Wartsila, was a major step to expanding its overseas markets. Guyana has become its golden child, allowing it to provide services to not only Trinidad, Belize and Antigua but also Dominican Republic.
The first of the two engines achieved 200,000 running hours recently, chalking up over 90 percent availability. The other engine will achieve that milestone later this year.

“This is of major significance. These engines are running almost like the new ones we have at Vreed-en-Hoop, and a clear testimony of the country’s technical and human capacity,” explained Gary Hall, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of PPDI’s Human Resources and Administration.
In fact, an elated Wartsila has been examining the story of the engines to determine if it can replicate that in other countries. The engines were definitely not expected to last that long, and definitely not under the conditions they were subjected to.
“What we are seeing here is that two engines were available for 88 percent of its lifetime, producing power to the people of Guyana, with the downtime for maintenance and reserves. This is a remarkable feat,” said Brian Goodridge, DCEO of PPDI’s Operations and Maintenance.
“We can boast to the fact that there are no other engines in Guyana that have a history of 200,000 running hours. For Wartsila, nowhere in the world, does it have one too.”
Currently, PPDI produces 95 percent of the power for the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Inc. in the Demerara/Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS). Half of PPDI’s engines are over 20 years.
Both Hall and Goodridge are crediting the engines’ performance and reliability on the highly skilled engineers and technicians.
“We have been training our people continuously. We have from day one – from when Wartsila was managing – been 100 percent Guyanese-manned. Today, PPDI’s Management Team alone has about 100 years of experience between them and they are very capable,” Hall disclosed.
According to PPDI’s CEO, Dr. Arron Fraser, the model to have a local labour force overseen by a multi-national, has worked excellently. He noted the move from Wartsila to now a public-owned entity (PPDI).
“Over the last three years, we have been able to maintain a strict maintenance regime which has enabled engines to surpass estimated lifetime. The prospects are great for these two older engines and we are not even talking about any significant technical modification of engine. We can contemplate getting another five or six years more before any major modifications. It reinforces the point that Guyanese can do things in a world class way. Our investments in training are paying off.”
The CEO urged citizens to visit PPDI’s website (ppdi.gy) to learn more about the work of the company.
According to PPDI’s chairman, Mark Bender, the achievement of 200,000 hours of service for engines is by no means small potatoes.
“Of course, it is a tribute to the competence of the management and staff of Wartsila Operations Guyana Inc. (WOGI) and now latterly PPDI. As I have said before, when PPDI was formed to replace WOGI, there were many reservations in some quarters as to whether it was a good decision, particularly since PPDI was to be a state-owned enterprise.”
The official made it clear that the management and staff of PPDI continue to vindicate the Coalition Government’s decision for PPDI’s establishment by maintaining high levels of competence and an admirable operational culture.
“PPDI’s role in the electricity sector in Guyana has been further expanded, since recently the company signed a Maintenance Agreement with the Hinterland Electrification Company Inc. Under this agreement, PPDI will be responsible for the maintenance of seven plants located in outlying areas of Guyana. This again is testament of the sufficiency of knowledge and skills that the employees of the company collectively possess as well as the quality of the management.”
Bender disclosed that PPDI remains responsible for the operation and maintenance of 106 megawatts of GPL’s total capacity.
“As Chairman of the Board of Directors of PPDI, I remain extremely proud of the achievements of PPDI over its first three years of operation, and I have no doubt that the company will go from strength to strength.”
Coming here in the 1990s, Wartsila ran with just over 20 employees and grew to about 100 fulltime employees when its contract came to an end in 2016. PPDI, in just three years of existence, has over 140 employees now, not only running the Wartsila engines, but now being placed around the country, including at Kwakwani, Lethem, Mahdia, Port Kaituma, Matthew’s Ridge, Mabaruma, Kwakwani and Ituni, to manage the maintenance of a variety of models of engines.
Wartsila has significantly scaled back its operations here locally since 2016.
According to Bharat Harjohn, GPL’s Divisional Director of Operations, who has been overseeing the PPDI’s contract for power, the two engines have been described as “champion” engines for Wartsila.
“PPDI has clearly demonstrated it has capacity – with inventory and well-trained staffers. They have been doing a fantastic job, growing in technical capacity.”
David Patterson, under whose stewardship PPDI was established, made it clear that the decision was justified. He was the Minister of Public Infrastructure who oversaw the formation of the new company.
“We have a competent team. What I know is that PPDI has a strict regimen of continuous training for team members and we are proud of that. Many of the persons you see there, even though they started at Wartsila, we have now enhanced training and qualifications, and they have been maintaining high standards. It augurs well for the entire country.”
Patterson also made it clear that he is impressed with the performance of GPL over the last six months, evidence that strides have been made in reducing outages.
GPL has been battling not only generation capacity, needing more power, but aging lines and hardware have been affecting quality and reliability.

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