The landmark Energy Efficiency Management Project being conducted by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) is approaching the end of its initial stages. A key seminar/ workshop targeting chief executive officers, senior managers in decision-making positions, and high ranking operatives in the banking and financial sector, will be held this Thursday at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (Red House), Kingston, Georgetown.
The workshop will be facilitated by energy management specialist, Dr Carl Duncan. He is, among other things, a fellow of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Dr Duncan is highly trained in power station operation and maintenance and non-conventional electricity generation. He has been conducting the crucial second phase of the project – the energy audit and study – in the five companies serving as the pilots. The project is jointly funded by the Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB (70 per cent) and the GMSA (30 per cent).
Dr Duncan has been adamant about the importance of the involvement of senior management personnel in any company that has recognised the need to charter a new, modern course for their energy supply and usage if they are to save on their energy expenditures.
Prudent management
“Energy has to be managed in the same way as finance, production and other aspects of business,” he pointed out, and explained that it is for this reason that bankers and financing entities must also be given the requisite information to secure their commitment to bringing Guyana’s energy sector in line with the developments taking place, especially in the Caribbean region.
He said that there is need for the financial sector to buy-in and facilitate investment in energy measuring and auditing equipment, online systems and more efficient components even in their own institutions.
Energy monitoring is the first step towards careful management of consumption.
During the seminar on Thursday, the consultant and his team of technical specialists will present the findings from his interventions in several local companies representing the food processing, manufacturing and services sectors. He is also expected to offer advice on the way forward with respect to required national energy policies and regulations, required technical skills and necessary investments to enhance energy efficiency.
National business model
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who holds the ministerial portfolio for the energy sector, is expected to deliver the opening remarks and GMSA’s President Clinton Williams, will present the project overview and its anticipated results.
According to the project designer and administrator, Clement Duncan, the data accumulated throughout the project will be morphed into a national business model, applicable to the wide spectrum of enterprises on the Guyanese business landscape. In addition, the awareness and sensitisation programme is being extended to the business communities in Berbice and Essequibo, where similar seminars have been scheduled for Tuesday 3 and Thursday 5 December respectively.
Dr Duncan, a native of Guyana, is a highly regarded energy management specialist across the Caribbean and in the U. S., having been certified as a regulatory specialist by the Institute of Public – Private Partnerships in Washington, D. C. (with assistance from the World Bank and the University of Loughborough).
His areas of expertise also include 1811- WA auditing and review of regulated utilities, tariff setting and regulating electric and water utilities.
He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial and electrical engineering and a PhD in business administration.
His work experience in Guyana included stints in the bauxite, sugar and timber industries and the electricity company.
From 2003, he has been executing projects in the utilities and corrugated box industries in St Lucia, Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados, and plays a major role in the regulatory commissions in the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, where he resides.
