COMPANY PROFILE
2013
EDISON POWER
Power for generations
CompANY PROFILE
Power for generations Editorial: Lauren Grey Production: Chris Bolderstone Celebrating his 60th birthday earlier this year, businessman Vivian Reddy announced plans to retire at the age of 65, handing his successful electrical company, Edison Power to his son. IndustrySA finds out more about the legacy he is leaving behind.
South Africa’s continuing economic growth as it focuses on further industrialisation, together with its mission to make electricity readily available in deep rural areas has resulted in a steep increase in the demand for power. With energy demand expected to reach twice its current levels by 2030 and years of underinvestment in the country’s power infrastructure, Eskom, the stateowned company in charge of the majority of energy generation and distribution is failing to meet demand. Government has therefore set out plans to increase the amount of energy generated in the country and find new ways to diversify its power-generating capacity, from what was once heavily dependent on coal. In order to do this, government has called upon independent power producers to contribute towards the country’s energy
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mix, particularly those involved in sustainable energy solutions. An important part in the process of creating more power comes from electrical contracting companies, specialising in electrical installations and providing power producers with a means to generate more electricity. South Africa’s oldest -and most reputable- electrical contractor is Edison Power, a company dedicated to the provision of cost effective and efficient services, whilst improving the quality of life for all South Africans.
POWER FOR GENERATIONS Edison Power specialises in electrical installations in all aspects of the electrical industry, including commercial, industrial, HV and LV reticulation, township reticulation, fibre optic installation, live line installation, smart metering, wind and solar EPC and substation and
EDISON POWER
transformer installations. The electrical contractor has been leading the industry for 34 years, with a proven track record and in excess of R5Bn worth of installations without any claims or negative comment for its failure to meet the criteria of performance. The internationally recognised group has a number of different divisions operating across South Africa, including Edison Power Gauteng and Edison Power Kwazulu Natal; it also has a full service IT division, Edison Power Technology which delivers consulting, infrastructure and software development solutions and also a smart metering division, Edison Power Smart Metering which has an alliance with Itron, the world’s leading provider of energy and water management solutions for utilities. The company currently employs over 1500 people,
and has a management team with a combined total in excess of 350 years experience within the electrical industry. Together with its highly skilled workforce and mission to retain its leading position within the industry, the company has received many awards including being voted the best electrical company in South Africa, four years in a row. Founder and Chairman of Edison Power, Vivian Reddy told the Daily Maverick that his company is the ‘best in the industry’, “My electrical company gets business because we are the best in the industry. For the last five years, we have been voted the best electrical company in South Africa. We are 100% black-owned, we have all the right credentials and we have the financial resources to do any job.” In support of Reddy’s remark that his company can ‘do any job’, is the company’s portfolio of projects which
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CompANY PROFILE range from shopping centres and casinos to airports and theme parks, with many, many more in between.
VIVIAN REDDY Founder and Chairman of Edison Power, Vivian Reddy is somewhat of a celebrity in South Africa, whose story of rags to riches is a shining example of what can be achieved through sheer determination and resilience. Born in Durban and from very humble beginnings, Reddy single-handedly created his business empire with diverse interests in energy, casinos, healthcare, financial services and property development. Aside from the awards achieved by his company, Reddy has received many of his own, from Most Admired Businessperson in KZN, 2007 to Award for Sustainable Contribution to Engineering and Business, 2009. Reddy has openly acknowledged that his success was due to “having a vision and a dream”, and that his inspiration came from astronaut, Neil Armstrong, who he met in Japan at the age of 16 when he represented South Africa as a scout at an international gathering. “Armstrong talked about his determination in life and about how perseverance prevails when all else fails. His passing words to me, which has become my mantra, were
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‘If you can dream it, you can achieve it’,” Reddy told Ryland Fisher, of the Daily Maverick.
“My electrical company gets business because we are the best in the industry. For the last five years, we have been voted the best electrical company in South Africa. We are 100% black-owned, we have all the right credentials and we have the financial resources to do any job” However, the road to success and making others understand his ideas wasn’t easy, as Reddy says he was dismissed from his first job because of his “progressive views in the workplace”, “I could not get a job at any electrical company in South Africa and was forced to go out there on my own. “My first job was an absolute disaster. When I went to collect my cheque for about R26000, there was a note
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on the company door saying ‘Company in liquidation. Contact our attorneys’. I started in debt and that is when I started to believe ‘if you can dream it, you can achieve it’” he told Fisher. “At that time I said I wanted to form the biggest electrical company in Africa…I believe that it today can be better than yesterday and tomorrow can be better than today, no matter in all aspects of your life, you can find improvement.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY Reddy says that one of the company’s main advantages and reasons for its continuing success is innovation, “The other big thing we do is innovation. We evolve with industry. When we see new technology in the power industry, the gaming industry of the construction industry, we grasp those things. “What happens today is that too many people run their businesses with blinkers. They just look at what they have done. They don’t really look into the forward scenario. They don’t look at the issues impacting on the business, a lot of them don’t do risk analysis,” he told Fisher. One of the company’s most recent innovations is within the renewable energy sector, for which its division,
Edison Green Renewable Energy was specifically formed. Edison Green is a renewable company involved with Suzlon, the 5th largest wind energy company in the world. The company is currently also in talks with another IPP who uses PV (Photovoltaic) Technology for power generation; creating solar farms which are emission free and carbon neutral. Edison Power believes that the way we use energy must change, as is the way we generate energy, and through Edison Green the group is committed to playing a major part of this worldwide social responsibility act and plans to be a major player in the EPC sector related to renewable energy and in the ownership of wind and solar projects.
VAN STADENS WIND FARM Edison Power’s most recent involvement in renewable energy projects came after they were named the electrical contractor for the MetroWind Van Stadens Wind Farm, a project that will see the company provide electrical services to the EPC contractor responsible for the construction of the farm, Basil Read Matomo. Van Stadens Wind Farm is situated 30km west of Port Elizabeth, conveniently known as South Africa’s
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CompANY PROFILE
‘windy city’, on the Klein Rietfontein farm, at the South-Western extremity of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The R550 million project, financed through 80% debt and 20% equity will see 26.19 megawatts of energy being produced by IPP, Metrowind. Edison Power is responsible for installation of transformers, switch gear, substations, control instrumentation and SCADA systems, which will reticulate wind energy back onto the national grid. The government’s drive towards renewable energy solutions is a push towards trying to solve South Africa’s worsening energy shortage, and the advantage of renewable, especially wind and solar, is the speed at which they can be constructed. Although renewables cannot single-handedly solve energy concerns in the country, or indeed throughout the world, they do contribute towards a mixture of energy sources to help keep a balance in the network.
EDISON POWER 2017 Celebrating his 60th birthday earlier this year, Reddy announced that he would be retiring at the age of 65,
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leaving the business in the capable hands of his son, Santhan. “He is doing a great job” he told Fisher. “He is young, very innovative and full of energy. He is only 30 years old and he reminds me of the time when I was that age. I am confident that, under his leadership, the company will grow from strength to strength.” However, before Reddy retires he says that he wants to make Edison Power Group the biggest electrical company in Africa which he hopes to achieve by 2017, and has only one wish of his son “to make sure that the company remains 100% black-owned and blackmanaged.”
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“What happens today is that too many people run their businesses with blinkers. They just look at what they have done. They don’t really look into the forward scenario”
EDISON POWER
Panel & Switchboard Manufacturers 130 Khuzimpi Shezi (Williams) Rd, Durban Contact Mike Pienaar- mike@gammapanels.co.za or Alex Di Paolo – alex@gammapanels.co.za Tel: (031) 305 6681 Fax: (031) 305 2404
Proud to be associated with Edison Power
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+27 31 566 9500 www.edisonpowergroup.co.za
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