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Lakvijaya power plant hampered by engineer migration
View(s):Leaked document shows request for engineers from China until local hires are trained
Eleven operations engineers in the electrical discipline have left over the past eight months and another 17 are in the process of migrating, authoritative internal sources said. Four maintenance engineers have also resigned and another 19 are preparing to leave.
Operation engineers have fallen below the required cadre of 40 and the day-to-day running of the plant has become a challenge, the sources said, adding that these issues have been raised with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) over the past several months.
LVPP Plant Manager P. W. M. N A. B. Wijekoon recently wrote to the CEB General Manager and the Additional General Manager requesting 19 engineers from LVPP builder China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) for a six-month period to tide over the shortage of engineers. The letter was leaked to the public.
The Plant Manager has estimated the cost for this temporary arrangement to be around Rs 665.9 mn (with taxes) or US$ 1.71mn – at the rate of US$ 500 per day per engineer. The CEB already has an operation and maintenance advisory service agreement with LVPP. Mr Wijekoon justifies the proposal saying that the operation of the plant was technically complex owing to the variety of equipment and systems.
“Plant failures and various emergencies can occur at any time which can have a great impact on the power system’s stability,” he states. “Hence, it is challenging to manage plant operations without experienced engineers in LVPP. The engineering cadre is engaged in operation duties round-the-clock.”
Separately, the sources warned that, at the present rate of resignations, “It will only be possible to operate two units of LVPP by the end of 2023”.
CEB Chairman Nalinda Ilangakoon, however, dismissed concerns that the shortage of engineers would, in particular, delay the restarting of LVPP Unit 3 which has been shut down for 100 days for maintenance. He said the utility is recruiting new engineers to replace the ones that have left, and that the plant’s operations will not be affected.
“We are looking to recruit 19 engineers,” he said. “There were 430 applications. We interviewed and shortlisted 19 and are waiting for Government approval to hire them. All of them are local engineers.”
The Chairman also said neither the Government, the Power and Energy Ministry nor the CEB have taken any decision, policy or otherwise, to engage foreign engineers to run operations at LVPP.
There are fears among LVPP staff, however, that the new hires will not be sufficiently trained in time to restart Unit 3. “The training process of a newly recruited engineer to LVPP is nine months, minimum,” the internal sources said. “Until then, a replacement engineer cannot be assigned to duties. And due to the skilled nature of the jobs carried out at a coal-fired power plant, more time is required to train and develop their skills compared to any other power plant.”
It takes at least an additional three years of hands-on experience to develop a fully competent operations engineer, they said. Recruiting new engineers to the plant will not solve the current crisis unless experienced ones are retained to train them.
These issues have been raised with the CEB Board over an extended period of time, including at a Board meeting held at LVPP in Norochcholai in March 2023. The minutes were seen by the Sunday Times.
Describing the strain on the workforce owing to shift operations, the sources said that LVPP’s Operation Unit “will not be in a position to re-commission, restart and operate Unit 3 safely and reliably as per the given time schedules after the expected completion of its Level A overhaul in November 2023”. A further reduction of operation engineers will additionally affect the handling of emergencies, startups, shutdowns and the smooth running of the plant.
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