Engineering

Engineers are making the switch to renewable energy possible.

Pay-for-use models make new technologies more accessible.

Also in the Northern Cape, engineering skills are being expanded by new work associated with radio astronomy. Local artisans from the town of Carnarvon have built telescopes for a radio telescope array project, the 350-dish HERA project, which is led by the US National Science Foundation with the South Africa Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) acting as the local partner, responsible for systems engineering and construction, among other duties. At one point, the construction team grew to 20 and many news skills were learnt.

The Redstone Concentrated Solar Thermal (CSP) power plant project (pictured) is the largest investment so far in terms of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The large undertaking, located near Postmasburg in the Northern Cape, has also given Grinaker-LTA’s Civil Engineering division a substantial foothold in one of South Africa’s fastest-growing economic sectors, renewable energy.

Many South African engineering concerns are filling their order books with renewable energy infrastructure orders as the country aims to generate more power from solar, hydro-electric and wind plants and fit more rooftop solar panels to houses and businesses.

Some of the key aspects which Grinaker-LTA was responsible for included hot and cold storage tank bases, civil works, the steam generation structure and the molten salt pump towers. The 100MW plant is the first project-financed CSP with molten-salt-central receiver in the world. ACWA Power, a Saudi developer, investor and operator of power generation plants, and Chinese engineering company SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Limited, managed the project and they jointly appointed Grinkaker-LTA as the contractor to execute the construction of the project’s critical structures.

When dairy company Clover decided to consolidate its national operations into just four plants, technological expertise was needed to make sure those factories were able to cope with greater demand. One such company was Energy Partners Refrigeration (EPR) who were contracted to tackle a number of issues, including increased power requirements to higher refrigeration load as well as increased steam demand and pressure requirements.

The upgrade of the cooling structure featured the installation of a new 10MW ammonia system and 16% of all the electricity used by the new system is generated by solar PV. An innovative aspect of the project is that Clover has a Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) contract, a payper-use model that removes the large upfront investment cost as a barrier to improved efficiencies and improved environmental performance.

Marine repair and engineering form a significant sector in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with established companies such as EBH South Africa offering comprehensive services. Both KwaZulu-Natal ports are expanding and will continue to attract engineers.

Dormac, which is headquartered in the Bayhead area of the Port of Durban, is best known for its marine engineering but it offers specialised services to the sugar industry and provides machinery for industrial giants like Toyota and Defy.

The Engineering Council of South Africa has a programme where trainees can earn certificates in specific disciplines from a range of institutions. The qualifications are in line with the council’s Exit Level outcomes. Six of South Africa’s biggest construction companies have established a R1.25-billion skills fund. Several partnerships between the public and private sectors are trying to address the skills deficit. The Skills Development Amendment Act is intended

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to improve the situation.

One of the most exciting engineering projects in South Africa is the Msikaba Bridge project that forms part of the new N2 toll road between Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal and Umtata in the Eastern Cape. The CME JV (Concor – MECSA Construction Joint Venture) is the main contractor and it has had to stop work more than once because of protests of various sorts. Sophisticated techniques are required to ensure that the 580m cable-stayed structure, which will span the 198m-deep Msikaba Gorge, is stable. The deck will be supported by 34