Timor Leste, Indonesia

The national electricity company (EDTL) of Timor Leste runs three Wärtsilä power plants: Hera with seven Wärtsilä 18V46 engines, Betano with eight 18V46 engines and Inur Sakato PP - Oecusse with four Wärtsilä 9L34DF engines. “These plants are vital in ensuring a stable and continuous power production for the entire nation,” says Mr Jerenimo.

Asset management with knowledge transfer

Wärtsilä and EDTL had signed an Asset Management contract in 2015 which included operations & maintenance of the plants. In January 2018 the original scope of that contract was expanded to also include the training of local staff. For the next five years, the WLSA will provide training for local power plant operators (totally 25 sessions), which will include competence assessments at set intervals.

Thanks to the training programme, the operators’ awareness of how to operate the equipment and the principles for maintenance will reach a higher level. “The training that Wärtsilä delivers is very rigorous and of a high standard, which was exactly what we expected, since Wärtsilä is an expert in power plants. So far, some 65 local Timorese operators have been trained, and the sessions have received very high ratings. In particular, the valuable discussions taking place at every training session have been totally worth having. Because of the training, some of the operators have even been promoted to supervisory positions,” says Mr Jerenimo.