LESEDI
LESEDI
Nuclear Specialists Target
Industry Domination
PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder
Established in 1984, Lesedi has since positioned itself among the leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and maintenance companies in Africa. Its recent rebranding reflects a long history spent gathering expertise in not only nuclear, but also in industrial power, mining and oil and gas environments. www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENGINEERING
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Lesedi is an African company whose work spans the power generation, mining and oil and gas industries. It is firmly established as an engineering, project management and maintenance solutions house, and has the capacity to conceptualise, manage, and implement its own engineering projects. Lesedi was originally founded to provide engineering, recurrent maintenance services and technical resources for the South African nuclear power industry, but has been steadily diversifying over a number of years to become known as a major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) organisation. The Cape Town-based company today employs more than 300 personnel including qualified engineers, highly experienced project management professionals and technicians all with extensive nuclear and industrial expertise. KNOWN FOR NUCLEAR Thoughts immediately turn to the nuclear sphere when the Lesedi name is mentioned, and indeed some of its most notable work has been conducted at Eskom’s Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant in the Western Cape. Lesedi has been involved with the Koeberg Power Station for almost 30 years, and has an additional 15 years of experience at global nuclear power stations. The Koeberg plant is famed for being the only facility of its kind on the entire African continent, with the two reactors forming the cornerstone of the South African nuclear program. It supplies in the region of 5% of South Africa’s total electricity needs, and approximately 50% of the electricity demand of the Western Cape. What is perhaps less well known is that Lesedi has been quietly but steadily broadening its horizons to successfully completing numerous projects in non-nuclear environments too, in large part due to the increasing uncertainty surrounding the nation’s nuclear energy plans. Energy Minister Jeff Radebe
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// IT IS IMPERATIVE TO HAVE A BROAD ENERGY MIX WITHIN A COUNTRY //
announced at the end of August that South Africa had cancelled plans to add 9,600 MW of nuclear power by 2030, and would instead aim to increase capacity in natural gas, wind and other energy sources. The expansion plans outlined by Radebe targeted a range of other energy sources, calling for additional capacity of 8,100 MW from wind and 8,100 MW from gas, 5,670 MW from photovoltaic panels, 2,500 MW from hydro and 1,000 MW from coal by 2030. A NEW ERA BECKONS Lesedi Nuclear Services evolved from Intens Engineering, a company which was founded soon after the construction and commissioning of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station by Framatome, later becoming AREVA, the renowned global leader in the design and construction of nuclear power plants, in the mid 1980s. Now looking to branch out from a sole focus on nuclear expertise, Lesedi announced earlier this year its intention to completely overhaul and rebrand itself, to become known as a leading contractor in South Africa’s general power generation, mining and oil and gas sectors. For such a wholesale change to be possible Lesedi has had to diversify its offerings over a period of many years, one of which has been to offer a number of state-of-the-art products and services for a broad range of applications in the industrial and mining environment. Lesedi has also accrued nearly 30 years of expertise in the oil and gas sector, successfully completing projects across Southern Africa since 1990, while its operations maintenance services have helped its clients to protect vital, valuable infrastructure assets and extend their operational life. Lesedi is also able to execute any
renewable energy projects with existing references in biomass, waste-to-energy, solar, and pumped storage, through its rich and varied expertise in bespoke project delivery, and provides effective solutions for engineering, project management and maintenance services in nuclear, renewable, gas, coal and biomass power generation. Developing such a broad product and service line does not mean that Lesedi is turning its back on nuclear, though - far from it, details CEO Francis Carruthers. “The nuclear industry is hungry for new projects,” he outlines, “so we should be able to negotiate some good contracts as long as we strike early; if we wait until everybody else picks up on this then we may miss out on these strong commercial deals. “Nuclear will remain very important - a number of African countries are already looking at it as a vital part of their energy mix. You can’t for example, just rely on geothermal in Kenya, nor can you rely solely on coal in South Africa. It is imperative to have a broad energy mix within a country.” A BREADTH OF EXPERTISE Lesedi has been making great strides to position itself in new markets and territories for more than a decade now, taking on contracts within both the mining and oil and gas environments as well as the renewable industry. Group business development executive Shane Pereira points out that the company has been in the process of diversifying
// LESEDI OVER THE YEARS HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT LOCAL CONTENT CAN BE ACHIEVED ACROSS THE ENTIRE VALUE CHAIN OF PROJECTS IT’S ENGAGED IN //
INDUSTRY FOCUS: ENGINEERING
since as far back as 2006, embodied by undertaking contracts in the construction of open-cycle gas turbines for Eskom and the Medupi and Kusile power stations, as well as having been involved in biomass and waste-toenergy projects. “We had a quiet optimism about the nuclear build programme in SA — until recently. About 80% of our revenue is currently non-nuclear,” Pereira reported to BusinessLive in June. “18-months ago we recognised the mining sector as an opportunity for us, specifically focusing on clean air and emissions control. Then a year ago we looked at the oil and gas business and saw opportunity in fuel depots and storage sites.” Carruthers summed up the change of branding with an insight into the big plans the company has moving forward. “With Lesedi evolving to a firmly established African company, the rebranding of the group reflects its purpose and vision for the future: to be the leading engineering, procurement and construction enterprise recognised for empowering and energising the enrichment of the African continent.” UPSKILLING IS CRUCIAL At the launch in April this year of the Lesedi Skills Development Academy, in the Western Cape, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies described how critical skills development will prove to the South African economy. He explained that the academy had been established in order to address the need of skilled artisans, as well as to close the skills gap in the nuclear and broader energy sector, and their associated industries. “At all levels of employment, one [needs] to be skilled,” he stated, as reported by Engineering News. “Government is aware that skills development in the past was limited to the minority and the majority of people had less access, yet it is a critical requirement now for the majority to get jobs.
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LESEDI
// THE REBRANDING OF THE GROUP REFLECTS ITS PURPOSE AND VISION FOR THE FUTURE: TO BE THE LEADING ENGINEERING, PROCUREMENT AND CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISE ON THE CONTINENT // “Every bit counts as a means to address the issue of skills development and unemployment. We, therefore, cannot compromise if we need more people to participate meaningfully in the economy,” Davies added. The skills that the Lesedi academy develops will assist the people in Atlantis to tap into opportunities such as the proposed Atlantis Special Economic Zone, which is expected to be designated by the end of this year. BIG PARTNERSHIPS One consequence of Lesedi’s gradual widening of its field of expertise has been the scale of the project it has been able to take on, and one of the most
impressive of late has been its partnering with French tracker specialist Exosun to offer the most localised tracking system in the region. Exosun has been steadily expanding its presence on the continent since 2015 and has been active in developing its manufacturing capacity in preparation for upcoming projects in the popular Sub-Saharan region, which last year brought about its first grid-scale project in Namibia. It is this momentum on the continent that led Exosun to expand through this partnership into South Africa. “After months of extensive research to develop the best strategy in order to benefit our prospects and clients, we have found Lesedi to be a strong
reputable industry stakeholder. Our complementary approach will ensure the success of our customers” said François Ménard, Exosun’s CEO, in a statement. “Lesedi will deliver the support needed to our customers and will ensure plant design, tracker manufacturing and installation of our single-axis tracker, offering to our customers the highest possible level of local content. “This is a strategic partnership that will be complementary to Lesedi’s expanding market offerings in the renewable sectors in Africa and we will ensure we achieve the highest degree of local content,” concluded Carruthers. “Lesedi over the years has demonstrated that local content can be achieved across the entire value chain of projects it’s engaged in and this partnership with Exosun will achieve the same again.”
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