CEO – 33 MW Greenfield CCGT Power Plant

Home » Case Studies » CEO – 33 MW Greenfield CCGT Power Plant

About The Client:

The client is a strategic joint venture between a global metals and energy leader and a prominent African investment holding group. The collaboration was established to develop and operate a US$180 million greenfield combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project was designed to significantly strengthen regional power infrastructure and required rapid commissioning, operational excellence, and long-term asset reliability in a complex frontier market environment.

Challenges Faced:

The assignment presented a highly specialised and complex leadership requirement:

The project required a CEO capable of commissioning three GE TM2500 CCGT power units from a greenfield stage
Achieving 92% plant availability within 120 days of commercial operation was a critical performance benchmark
The role demanded direct leadership over a 100% Chinese EPC contractor operating on-site
Execution had to take place in a frontier market environment with limited infrastructure maturity
The leadership requirement combined technical power generation expertise with strong stakeholder and cross-cultural management capability
The global talent pool meeting all technical, operational, and environmental criteria was extremely limited, with fewer than seven suitable professionals identified worldwide

Strategy Used to Overcome the Challenges:

A highly targeted, global executive search strategy was executed focusing exclusively on proven CCGT greenfield leaders.

Conducted global mapping across active and recently completed CCGT projects in Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia
Identified and engaged 68 senior Plant Managers and power generation executives through direct outreach on LinkedIn and regional platforms, including WeChat
Assessed candidates with specific experience in GE TM2500 commissioning and greenfield operations
Evaluated leadership capability in managing large-scale Chinese EPC contractors in cross-border execution environments
Implemented a structured security and relocation readiness assessment due to the project’s operating environment
Shortlisted candidates were taken through a 72-hour immersive site and stakeholder familiarisation process to validate operational readiness and commitment

Outcome:

The mandate resulted in the successful appointment of a highly experienced CCGT Plant Head with extensive greenfield commissioning expertise.

The selected leader brought:

Proven experience commissioning multiple GE TM2500 projects across Myanmar and Nigeria
A strong track record of maintaining 94% plant availability over a seven-year O&M cycle
Deep expertise in managing EPC contractors in complex multinational execution environments
Prior leadership experience in Kazakhstan’s power generation sector
Cross-cultural communication capability, including native Hindi fluency and conversational Mandarin

The appointment enabled the client to secure a proven operator capable of delivering rapid commissioning, operational stability, and long-term asset performance in a highly demanding infrastructure environment.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with you on several senior and strategic hiring assignments. What I appreciate most is the dedication, transparency, and genuine partnership spirit that Peergrowth bring to every search. Rather than simply matching CVs to job descriptions, The team take the time to deeply understand our organization, its culture, leadership dynamics, and future aspirations, then identify candidates who not only fit the role but truly belong in our environment.

It’s rare to find a recruitment partner who combines professionalism with empathy, market expertise with humility, and speed with precision. The level of trust and collaboration we’ve built has made a real difference in our talent acquisition journey, especially for corporate critical senior roles.

I’m sincerely grateful for the partnership and looking forward to achieve more In Sha’a Allah