Triumph Power Generating, an Independent Power Producer (IPP) located in Kenya, signed a five-year-extension with a possibilty of continuing further of its full operation and maintenance (O&M) contract with MAN PrimeServ, the after-sales brand of MAN Energy Solutions, for their 83 MW power plant in Kitengala, Kenya consisting of ten Himsen 18H32/40 engines and an addditional steam turbine.

The original contract with MAN PrimeServ was in December 2016, after MAN had won an international tender. In contrast to usual O&M agreements based on MAN technology, this contract was for the day to day management of third party equipment. This original agreement was supported and made possible by Stefan Eefting, Senior Vice President PrimeServ Germany and Dr. Michael Filous, Vice President Operation & Maintenance Agreements, who were eager to demonstrate MAN’s capability to provide O&M services on such third party equipment.

Triumph Power Generating’s primary aim in changing operators was to get the power plant to a point where it could work free of problems at full load without any risk of damaging the equipment.

Henning Hansen, Head of MAN PrimeServ O&M Execution, said: “Taking over a power plant already in commercial operation, built and operated by unknown EPC and O&M contractors, was something we had never done before. But we were confident that we had the necessary skill set within our group to manage such a challenging project. The project posed many challenges to every part of our organization, both for our permanent O&M staff at the power plant and also for our excellent technical back-up from our PrimeServ experts in Germany and Belgium.”

Additionally, MAN applied a turbocharger upgrade package and implemented the MAN control and protection concept to improve reliability, efficiency and output of the engines. The combined effect of the MAN upgrades made it possible to meet the customer’s requirements for output capacity and reliability.

Commenting on the experience of working with MAN PrimeServ O&M, K. Siva Shankar, General Manager of Triumph Power Generating Company, stated: ”The communication with the MAN PrimeServ experts is very effective and the team’s broad expertise and experience in running power plants is adding a level of confidence to our operations.”