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Voith HydroSchool virtual training for Mount Coffee HDP employees
Voith HydroSchool virtual training for Mount Coffee hydropower plant employees
In early November, a completely virtual training series of the Voith HydroSchool started for the first time. The Liberian energy company Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), owner of the hydropower plant, and the technology company Voith are reinforcing their longstanding partnership in the area of training and development of local employees of the Mount Coffee hydropower plant.
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The training units, which are implemented in cooperation with the hydropower plant operator Hydro Operation International (HOI), are considered an important component for the sustainable cultural and economic development of Liberia. They also form the basis for a sustainable transfer of knowledge about hydropower as a renewable energy source.
Individual Virtual Classroom Training
The “Virtual Classroom Training” is led by a Voith expert who teaches live from a location of the technology company. Two groups of 10 employees each take part exclusively in the lessons and are trained individually in their areas of responsibility. New employees receive important knowledge about the hydropower plant, reservoir of energy resources, with potentials largely unexploited and many more undiscovered. However, with most African countries having a target of achieving universal electricity access by 2025 and 2030, the question ‘how can Africa attract private sector investment into the energy sector?’ remains pertinent. To answer this question, Puttru is organising a webinar that will officially launch its digital platform, under the theme “Closing the US$50 Billion Per Annum Investment Gap in Africa’s Energy Sector”. Puttru is a business facilitation online platform that connects African and Global energy companies to financiers from all over the world, by addressing barriers to facilitate the flow of private sector investment across turbine, hydraulic governor, generator and electronic equipment. Experienced employees expand their expert knowledge of excitation systems, plant protection and digital governors.
The theoretical and practical topics taught by the Voith expert in the morning will be repeated and implemented in the afternoon with the support of a trained HOI employee directly at the plant.
The training is to be conducted and completed this year. After successful completion of all training units, each employee will receive a certificate, which is of great importance for the employees.
“We are proud that we can now offer our customer a virtual representation of the HydroSchool training in a very short planning period,” emphasizes Maren Henkes, Customer Training Manager at Voith Hydro. “This is only possible thanks to the active support of colleagues from various departments.”
In 2016, two two-week training sessions for the entire plant were held in Germany and on site in Liberia. Three years later, new the energy sector. The webinar will bring together, on the 29th of October, key voices influencing the energy sector, both from the government and financial institution sides to discuss issues holding the continent back. The speakers will share their experience in trying out the Puttru digital platform and detail how they see the technology closing the energy sector investment gap in Africa. Confirmed speakers include: Mr. JeanClaude Houssou, Honourable Minister of Energy, Republic of Benin, Mr. Matthew Nkhuwa, Honourable Minister of Energy, Zambia, Dr. Sanusi Ohiare, Executive Director of Rural Electrification Fund (REF), Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and others. employees benefited from further training programs lasting several weeks with special focus on sustainable energy sources.
Comprehensive global knowledge transfer For years, the Voith HydroSchool has been globally committed to empowering local employees individually. By promoting sustainable energy sources, the technology company Voith not only contributes to the sustainable development of African countries but also supports them in the global reduction of CO2 emissions.
The Mount Coffee hydropower plant is owned by Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and is currently operated by Hydro Operation International (HOI). With a maximum plant capacity of 88 megawatts, the hydropower plant contributes to Liberia’s stable electricity supply. Voith has already supplied Francis turbines and generators as well as electrical equipment and control
The African continent is a huge
technology for this plant.
The webinar specific objectives:
• Gain insights from African ministers of energy and other policy makers, disclosing their experiences working with private sector financiers to attract investment into the energy industries, but also factors that work well and those that prove to be barriers to attracting investment into the continent. • Hear from financiers (debt and equity investors) what conditions they look out for when deciding if to provide debt or equity to state-owned or private-owned energy establishments in Africa. • Learn from energy companies the scope of challenges faced in accessing funds for project implementation. • Discuss how the Puttru Platform (including Puttru’s offline Advisory
Services) is best positioned to alleviate barriers to investment in the energy sector.
