With a R36-million share of Eskom’s new wind farm, the newest company in the Powertech stable – Powertech QuadPro – is starting to make its presence felt in one of the country’s most competitive markets.

The Eskom deal is the new company’s first major successful tender.
“You can be convinced of your company’s ability to do a job, but unless a customer puts its faith in you by awarding a contract, it’s all just talk,” says Harry Browne, CEO of Powertech QuadPro.

He says that winning this contract shows that Powertech QuadPro is spot on with the value it offers. Browne describes the substation market as the most competitive he has ever experienced. “South African projects attract between 12 and 15 bidders, which was unheard of a few years ago,” he says. “It has become exceptionally difficult to win a job, and pricing is crucial.”

The African market displays similar trends, he adds. Recently in Rwanda, for example, Powertech QuadPro was up against 17 bidders, many of them from Europe and Asia. “That tells me there is no work in Europe,” says Browne.

Against this backdrop, Browne says the company is justifiably proud of winning the R36-million bid to deliver a 132/11kV substation for Eskom’s Sere wind farm project near Vredendal in the Western Cape.

The 100MW Sere wind farm takes its name from the Nama word meaning “cool breeze”. Sere is situated on a 7 400ha site close to Vredendal, a region in South Africa with an attractive wind resource. South Africa’s overall wind capacity is estimated to be over 10 000MW.

The wind farm is funded by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, French development agency, Agence Française de Développement, and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

The project will cost R2.4-billion and is expected to be in full commercial operation by the end of 2014. It is expected to create about 170 direct jobs during construction, together with up to 2 100 indirect and/or induced jobs. Approximately 10 people will be permanently employed once the plant is fully operational.

The 46 Siemens wind turbines that will make up Sere is expected to generate about 233 000MWh of electricity per year, enough to power 97 000 homes. Over its 20-year operating life, Sere will save approximately 4.7-million tons of carbon emissions.