COMPANY PROFILE
2015
ABB SA
+27 10 202 5000 | www.abb.com
company profile
Embracing technological advancements
Editorial: Rebecca Bingley
A leader in the power and automation technologies industry, ABB focuses on improving the performance for its customers whilst maintaining its commitment to the environment. IndustrySA speaks with CEO at ABB South Africa, Leon Viljoen, who explains what much of the success for the South African arm of this global business can be attributed to: “I think total dedication to the market - we have done a lot in training people and motivating them and our good products and systems result in our ongoing success.”
The roots of ABB in South Africa can be traced back as far as the early 1900’s but following a merger in 1988 between Swedish company, ASEA and BBC (Brown, Boveri & Cie) of Switzerland, the business began to streamline more into the power and automation sectors and in 1992, ABB SA was established. With a renowned history for its influence on the European electrical engineering industry and the stature of its founders, BBC, formally known as Brown, Boveri & Cie, was established over a century ago by Charles E. L. Brown and Walter Boveri in Baden, Switzerland. BBC was the first company to transmit high voltage power and two years later, supplied Europe’s very first largescale combined heat and power plant, producing
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alternating current. Since its inception over two decades ago, CEO of ABB South Africa, Leon Viljoen, explains what the core business of the company is today: “We operate in two fields – power and automation, while our customer base reflects utilities, industry, transport and infrastructure.” He explains that looking at ABB globally, it is represented in three key geographical locations: America, Europe and Africa – “So a third of our revenue is represented in each of those three locations and from a power and automation perspective, internationally, this stands at 50/50.” At its Head Office facility in Johannesburg, ABB manufactures medium voltage switch gear, protection and automation panels, robotics servicing and medium and high voltage servicing,
ABB SA
while at its motor factory, the company focuses on manufacturing new and refurbished existing motors and medium voltage motors.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS Technological advancements are a natural process, especially in the automation and power industry - Viljoen explains how these advancements have impacted positively on the business and its operations. “The IT sector hasn’t seen huge jumps in technology - today the way a transformer is made is very similar to how it was made 50 years ago,” he explains. “The materials have changed and some designs have changed to make it a more accurate process but no principle changes in technology on the power side. Circuit blade technology has
advanced quite a bit on the automation side, there you’ve got more software IT influence and those have developed and improved dramatically.” “Our industry technology has improved and we can certainly do more than we could 15 years ago. For example; the voltages have increased dramatically from 765kV – at one point South Africa’s highest voltage – but today, there are now installations of 1100 or 1200kV.” Leon Viljoen has enjoyed a long and successful history with ABB, which initially started with a bursary from ASEA to study electrical engineering. Upon graduating, he went to work in sub-stations in ABB, working his way up to Senior Project Manager. Leaving ABB in 2000, Viljoen became Managing Director for Desta Power Matla for four years before becoming Chief Executive at
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company profile
Powertech Transformers until 2012. Leaving Powertech in 2013, following his promotion to COO, Viljoen returned to ABB as CEO for South Africa in February 2013 – “So I’ve been in this industry my whole life.”
LEADING BY EXAMPLE With the continual advancements in technology so important and relevant for ABB, earlier this year, it received national recognition for technology leadership in the 2014 Technology Top 100 Awards, despite over 160 entries from other industry competitors. “ABB, over the years, has had lot of these awards for
“We aim for a better world – we want the world to grow but to use less energy” PAGE 4
technology from an R+D perspective, ABB is definitely one of the leading companies internationally,” explains Viljoen. “We really put a lot of money back into R+D in the development of our products to stay ahead of the rest of the pack. In the company there is huge focus on R+D and technology development on a continual basis.” Chesney Bradshaw, head of sustainability for the ABB Southern Africa cluster, said at the event: “The award confirms ABB’s technology leadership in power and automation in the Southern Africa region. It recognises its customer service and excellence in operations as well as commitment to sustainability in energy efficiency, renewable energy and contribution to communities where it has operations.” ABB ensure that these advancements create a positive impact for the company and the region, helping it to establish a vital, continued and prominent position within the South African market; but, subsequently, competition within such a fundamental industry is inevitable. “Competition has always been very stiff in South Africa,” Viljoen explains. “However, it has become part of the globe so now we are seeing more and more competition from India and even the East. At ABB, we believe our foremost advantage is our technology and skills base in South Africa - it gives us a big advantage over many of the international companies.”
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“There’s no question that we are here to stay and we have always had this attitude” AN ENERGY EFFICIENT MINDSET “Energy efficiency plays right onto our hands, in the sense that we have a lot of products and systems for energy efficiency,” Viljoen explains. Even at its Longmeadow headoffice, ABB has implemented a shining example of energy efficiency – installing a sustainable lighting system which ensures lights only turn on when people are present, helping to reduce inefficiency significantly. Further green elements at the facility include the maximization of natural light, solar
panels and a grey-water recycling system. “Our motors are energy efficient too and every new generation of drives focuses on energy efficiency; so from our perspective, there’s a lot of systems and products that play into the space so it’s a hugely prominent focus for us. “If you look at ABB’s vision in power and productivity, we aim for a better world – we want the world to grow but to use less energy.”
KEY PROJECTS With energy efficiency measures in mind, ABB has been heavily involved in solar power projects in recent years, including an order worth $225 million in a bid to boost South Africa’s renewable program. The project, awarded in 2012, involved the construction of large-scale photovoltaic plants to help generate enough energy to power an estimated 36,000 homes. Built in the Northern Province, the two solar plants are located at the Witkop and Soutplan Solar Parks, near the city of Polokwana in the Limpopo province. With a generating capacity of 33 MW and 31 MW respectively, they are some of the first PV power plants to be built under the South African Government’s new long-term renewable energy program. Reaching full operational capability in 2013, both solar
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company profile
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plants generate 130 GWh of electricity every year, subsequently helping to displace up to 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Brice Koch, head of ABB’s Power Systems division said in a statement: “Our vast experience in supplying high-efficiency PV power plants, combined with our local capabilities and presence will enable us to deliver best-inclass solutions and support the country’s vision to integrate renewable energies.” In May last year, ABB won an order to supply electrical and control systems for the new 75 MW PV power plant, worth an estimated $25 million, which is located in the Northern Cape Province. Standing as one of the world’s largest single-axis PV power plants, the plant is situated in the Kalahari Desert, close to the town of Kathu and to Sishen - incidentally one of the largest open-pit iron ore mines in the world. On completion, the Kathu PV power plant will have the capacity to generate an estimated 146 GWh of clean solar power to feed into the national grid, helping to meet the demands of up to 40,000 people, whilst simultaneously displacing 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions on a
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yearly basis. In a statement, Koch explains: “Renewable energy sources such as solar have a key role to play in meeting the growing demand for electricity while minimising environmental impact. We have a strong track record in delivering turnkey power and automation solutions that are optimising photovoltaic power plants all over the world.” Confirmed at the beginning of this year, ABB has been awarded a $160 million contract from Eskom to supply the complete control systems, software and instrumentation for the 4,800 MW Kusile coal-fired power station, including boiler protection and plant simulator, engineering, installation, commissioning, optimization and training. Currently under construction near Witbank in the north eastern province, Viljoen explains : “The control system allows for the local control and the operators to execute their tasks safely, reliably and consistently.” Claudio Facchin, president of ABB Power Systems division said in a statement: “ABB’s state-of-the-art energy efficient technology solutions will help boost power
ABB SA supplies and bring reliable power supply to consumers. We are pleased to continue with our contribution to the development of South Africa’s power infrastructure through our power, automation and software capabilities.” With a five-year time-frame now in place, Viljoen explains its involvement in the Kusile power station will stand as one of the company’s biggest contracts. Long-term, it will encourage further opportunities within South Africa and surrounding regions, following the increasing and necessary industry requirements for infrastructure and water. “These are the two large areas that we are involved in. If you look at the offices we have in these countries, they have been established for many years and are being run by the countries themselves, so ABB believes in developing people and allowing them to grow within the company in their own country,” Viljoen explains. Looking to the future and Viljoen adds that ABB’s focus will stay within the region, and with 11 offices currently outside the South African region - mainly dealing with sales and services - the growth of ABB will lie in these regions. “We see some growth in South Africa, largely due to aging equipment and a lot of focus concentrating on getting more power into the area, but we definitely see bigger growth opportunities outside South Africa.”
CONTINUED SUCCESS With such a fruitful and eventful history behind it, what can such continued and valued success be attributed to? “I think total dedication to the market. There’s no question that we are here to stay and we have always had this attitude,” Viljoen explains. “The staff and the level of staff training that we do is important - it is very technical and a lot of the training gets done ‘on the job’, however we do training at our facilities overseas and send a lot of our staff there, particularly on the engineering, quality and manufacturing side. ABB stands as one of the first engineering companies in power and automation technologies to embrace a relationship with a BEE company – “That’s really looking at what we need to do to be successful and doing it, we are Level 2 BEE company and very proud of that today.” “Our products and solutions that we have internationally are definitely made for our market. We have done a lot in training people and motivating them and our good products and systems result in our ongoing success,” Viljoen concludes
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