Construction World January 2018

COVER STORY

BARLOWORLD POWER adds local lighting masts to RENTAL FLEET

Barloworld Power has filled a gap in its rental offering with a new range of South African designed and manufactured lighting masts.

manufacturer AllightSykes ended by mutual agreement, a gap was left in our lighting mast offering,” Knouwds explains. Home grown solution It made sense to look for a home-grown solution due to high importation costs and to suit local requirements with immediate back-up. Discussions began between Barloworld Power and Elegen, a Johannesburg-based OEM and one of Africa’s largest generator manufacturers and suppliers. Barloworld Power Rental approached Elegen with a proposal to design and manufacture a commercial lighting mast and the two companies worked to together to design the new unit. The result was the first lighting mast to be built by Elegen. The Elegen mast is the first completely South African product to be included in the Barloworld Power Rental offering. It is powered by a Perkins 403A-15 engine, which works well for the partnership as Perkins is a Cat-owned brand in the Barloworld Power stable. The telescopic mast is pneumatically (air) operated, which allows its four 320 W LED lights to be remotely extended vertically and tilted from the control panel. The LED lights provide 1 280 W of ultrabright light. Safe and efficient Barloworld Power Rental placed an order for 40 Elegen lighting masts on 28 April 2017 (a mere month after negotiations began) and 38 of these were delivered to Sasol at the beginning of August 2017 to support its Secunda operation throughout the shutdown. The masts were collected from Sasol in early October, accompanied by high praise from the customer on their safety, reliability and ease of operation. “As part of the total Sasol shutdown requirement, Barloworld Power Rental supplied four of the pneumatic operated telescopic light sets for Inside Ash plant,” says Glen Grobler, mechanical technician at Inside Ash (East) for Sasol Chemical Industries. “I was surprised at the ease of operation of the units. We were working at the top level of the chute structure and the lights could be extended telescopically to reach the same level. “I was also impressed by the amount of light they provided. They lit up a big area where the rigging actions were taking place, including our laydown area, and even in high wind conditions we had no fear of the units toppling over as the outriggers were more than adequate and easy to set up. “The LED type lights didn’t fade or fuse and our diesel bill was way less than expected due to the energy efficiency of the units. The unit could also be isolated and locked to prevent unauthorised use,” Grobler adds. Multiple applications Knouwds points out that there is no better test for a new product than the Sasol shutdown due to its very challenging requirements and the need for absolute integrity of all rental units on site. Barloworld Power has provided all power requirements during Sasol Secunda shutdowns for the past 10 years. “The new units are ideal not only as part of our petrochemical industry offering but also for all commercial and industrial

T he first stop for Barloworld Power Rental’s new all-South African lighting masts was at Sasol Secunda, where 38 units spent two months lighting up the site over the annual shutdown. The lighting masts formed part of a package of 110 rental machines, including Cat generators ranging from 40 kVA to 500 kVA, delivered by Barloworld Power. Barloworld Power is the Southern African dealer for Cat and Perkins power products and represents these brands in its rental fleet. The new lighting mast success story began remarkably recently, according to Cherese Knouwds, Barloworld Power Rental manager. “When Barloworld Power’s long-term partnership with Australian

Barloworld Power Rental has 40 Elegen lighting masts, powered by Perkins engines, in its fleet to meet the needs of all commercial and industrial customers.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2018