Full-time utility specialists from Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International Ltd. (MHI) will be working with the local management of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) under a three-year programme intended to improve the efficiency of the utility company.
MHI was awarded a three-year US$7.5M training, capacity building, and knowledge transfer contract with GPL, which will see the utility specialists as well as short term training support specialists on hand to help the utility move towards providing a reliable and sustainable service.
“This programme is intended to build capacity of the GPL’s management and executives, capacity and competences in the area of international standards delivery of all managerial results in all functional areas, [and] implement best practices and international standards as it relates to the generation and delivery of electricity,” Chairman of GPL’s Board of Directors Robert Badal said yesterday.
He was speaking at a press conference hosted by the utility company at the Pegasus Hotel to announce details of the US$7.5M Management Strengthening Programme (MSP), which is the first component of the Inter-American Development Bank/European Union (IDB/ EU)-funded Power Utility Upgrade Programme (PUUP).
Badal said that under the MSP, MHI will have, among other things, seven full-time utility specialists and eight short-term training support specialists here in Guyana, working alongside local management to provide the support needed to help improve performance in key business areas and to improve the utility company’s capabilities for provision of an efficient, reliable, and sustainable service.
It will also support senior management through a combination of classroom-based training and on-the-job training aimed at addressing the unique learning and development needs of GPL’s senior management.
“MHI’s mandate, for the three years of our project, is to increase the strength of GPL’s key management and senior management positions and also provide support in improving some of the key areas and performance of GPL, through coordination with the management,” MHI Contract Manager Scott Russell said.
He pointed out that the company would provide formal and informal training focused on industry best practices to assist GPL’s management in creating a target vision for the company.
“Once the target state is defined, MHI will work closely with GPL management to formulate the business plans aimed at achieving the overall vision. This plan will include mapping out GPL’s core business processes and looking for ways to improve the overall efficiency of GPL. MHI will focus on the professional development of GPL’s senior management team. Individual professional development plans will be created, which will identify the skills and competency requirements for each management position, along with corresponding actions. These actions may include formal classroom type training, less formal on the job training, and ongoing coaching and mentoring from the MHI utility specialists,” GPL and MHI said in a joint statement after the news conference.
“The intended outcome is to strengthen our company’s managerial capabilities by implementing a Management Strengthening Programme (MSP) to support senior management. It is intended for senior managers to transfer the benefits of their exposure to this programme into staff within their respective Divisions and Departments,” it added.
‘Transfer of knowledge’
Speaking with Stabroek News after the announcement, GPL’s Chief Executive Officer (ag) Renford Homer welcomed the initiative, which he said would allow him to gain knowledge from the experts.
“I think wherever we can get assistance, not only the Guyana Power and Light, but generally in Guyana, when we realise that we ought to be increasing capacity generally in our workforce, it should be commended and should be fully embraced and taken advantage of. What I anticipate is a significant transfer of knowledge from a consultant firm that is rich in experience, working with electric utilities around the world, particularly in developing countries like ours, where there is need to build capacity. There are areas without key business processes with which we would have approached them. I would expect that those areas would be strengthened. What is transferred to us, at the senior level, we will in turn be the ambassadors in transferring that knowledge [to] our more junior members of staff,” Homer said.
“So what we expect to come out of this is the transfer of technical knowledge, as it relates to the company techniques, coming from the consultant, which we in turn will use in the jobs that we do and as well as share that information and mentor and guide our own staff. This is so that the company, as a whole, will benefit over time, with respect to achieving our mission and vision,” he added.
MHI says it has a highly professional and experienced staff, having worked on projects in over 75 countries globally.
Russell explained that because the company is owned by its provincial corporation in Canada, it is able to take a longer term view of its projects and is not held to the same short-term financial performances that private companies are. As a result, it is able to better partner with clients to provide long-term knowledge and capacity building. “Which is why it has worked so well for us in the past. We are at the end of the day a utility and so when we work with utilities, we are able to speak the same language, take the same timeline approach to our projects …we bring that knowledge from a direct utility role,” he said.
Russell pointed out that between 2006 and 2008, his company took over the management of the Kenya Power and Light Company and while that project was slated to last for three years, MHI was able to leave by two and half, having successfully achieved its goals, specifically helping to reduce losses.
Noted too was its works in Mozambique, where it set up a holistic hydropower system to give power to hundreds of thousands in that country.
“MHI assists clients to deliver electricity and natural gas efficiently, effectively, and in a sustainable manner. As a subsidiary of a Canadian energy utility, Manitoba Hydro, MHI offers clients over a century’s worth of best practice experience. MHI strives to provide clients with the same quality of service and proven methods that have been mastered in one of North America’s most efficient and best-managed energy utilities. For over 30 years, MHI has delivered energy services to clients in over 75 countries. MHI is dedicated to creating lasting relationships, and collaborating closely with clients to suit their specific needs and achieve their desired outcomes,” the statement said.
“In operation for over 130 years, Manitoba Hydro is a vertically integrated, government-owned Canadian Provincial Crown Corporation. The corporation holds in-service assets in excess of $17 billion, generates over $2 billion in annual revenue, and employs over 6,500 utility staff. Manitoba Hydro is a major energy utility that is intimately involved in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of electricity and gas infrastructure,” it added.
The US$65.4M PUUP is intended to boost the efficiency and reliability of Guyana’s power system through electricity loss reduction measures, improvements in the operational capabilities, and strengthening the management and corporate performance of GPL.
