TICO T2 reduces its electricity production by 50%

Company News of Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Source: 3news.com

2019-05-29

The mechanical difficulties forced the operators of one of the thermal power stations in the Aboadze electrical enclave in the western region to reduce their electricity production by 50%.

Workers at the TICO / TAQA T2 power station did not consider the technical advice to shut down the plant for repair work in the event of an oil leak in one of the valves which would have caused a fire.

According to them, the plant with a capacity of 330 megawatts produces, since November 2018, only 150 megawatts of electricity on average, because of what they claim to be an indiscretion of management.

On September 19, 2018, management's attention was drawn to oil leaks on the HRSG 32 bypbad shutoff valve and advised to close it to repair leaks.

But according to workers who spoke on condition of anonymity, management ignored the advice of the team in office.

As a result, a fire made the HRSG 32 unavailable for several days, resulting in a huge financial loss for the company.

On November 3, 2018, workers reported that the STG MSCV had also failed. This made the STG unit unavailable for more than three months, as spare parts would have been unavailable on the site.

According to the workers, the technical team warned the management in advance, but nothing was done to fix it.

"Because of this loss, 311,040 mwhrs were lost in the 108 days of failure of the MSCV STG. But we could have solved the problem in just six days if the necessary spare parts were available, "said one of them.

A failure of ancillary equipment on the GT31 unit on December 20, 2018 resulted in a forced outage for more than four months, which they attributed to a wrong decision on the part of management.

"The original manufacturer of the GT31 unit, Flender, was billed for repair work. Unfortunately, management continued to delay the schedule, resulting in a failure of the GT31's generator bearings. "

Workers who are not happy with the way management has handled what they consider to be "avoidable incidents" have planned to demonstrate to demand the dismissal of General Manager Ernest Osafo and Plant Manager Nellissery Krishman.

However, officials at the local USI were able to convince the workers to suspend the planned protest.

A compromise was found between workers and leaders that only leaders should wear a red armband to express their concern about "mismanagement decisions".

But seven of the fourteen leaders were subsequently sentenced to a three-month ban on alleged unlawful claims.

"… You have been arrested with immediate effect pending an investigation into your involvement in the event from May 17 to May 24, 2019 for: action for unlawful claim, violation of collective agreement, violation of the rules of the Negotiating Committee in force and unfair labor practice ", a prohibited letter signed by Ernest Osafo, Director General of TICI / TAQA, read in part.

Plant Assistant Director Joseph Ackon said the plant is currently operating at 50% capacity due to ongoing maintenance.

Mr. Osafo, contacted to comment on the case, said: "TAQA has received various allegations and all have been noted," and stated that they "took the issue seriously and that they would work with all stakeholders to investigate ".

The investigation, he said, will consist of discovering what has happened and finding a solution to the problem.

About the ban, he said, said the seven leaders had been banned because they had "broken the rules of engagement."

He declined to comment on why he failed to recuse himself as a party to the allegations.

But workers who are not convinced by the explanations have threatened to strike if the union leaders are not recalled.