E+C August 2018

POWER QUALITY, STANDBY + BACK-UP

As demand for electricity throughout Africa continues to present numerous chal- lenges, Zest WEG Group, the generator set manufacturer/electric motor supplier, remains a significant player in the provision of power to the people of the continent. Demanding environments call for robust diesel generators

Take Note!

Zest WEG’s Genset Division offers the following: Standard diesel gensets. Enclosed diesel gensets. Mobile gensets. Open type diesel gensets. 1 2 3 4

W ith more than 37 years of experience in Africa, the Zest WEG Group, a subsidi- ary of leading Brazilian motor and con- trols manufacturer WEG, continues to dominate sub-Saharan Africa's power landscape. Since formation in the 1960s, the company has become the largest electric motor and variable speed drive supplier in Africa, servicing 45 countries. From providing low and high voltage electric motors, power and distribution transformers, containerised substations and switchgear to developing custom- ised diesel generator sets, Zest WEG Group is well- equipped to meet the energy needs of its clients. Zest WEG Group diesel generator sets, in par- ticular, are a common feature across sub-Saharan African businesses and industrial sites, providing power for a range of applications from construc- tion and mining to health and retail as well domes- tic households. The company's largest project to date was the completion of the Syrah Balama power plant in Mo- zambique in December, 2016. Zest WEG Group de-

economy, but this was new in terms of graphite and, being a conductive material, we had to come up with a special solution to counteract the con- ductivity on the electrical equipment". During 2017, ZestWEG Group installed 1 600 kVA and 2 000 kVA acoustically treated, containerised generator sets at the new Netcare Christiaan Bar- nard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town, where the world's first heart transplant was performed in the 1960s. During the installation, the team faced logis- tical challenges while offloading the generator sets. Roads had to be closed while the generator sets were positioned on top of the hospital's roof using special cranes. The generator sets were put into containerised units, specially designed for noise reduction. The company was behind another major project, installing eleven 630 kVA Volvo units at the V&A Waterfront, a popular tourist retail and commercial complex in Cape Town. The generator sets were in- stalled in the only space available in the basement parking area, where the team had to contend with low ceilings and narrow corridors while moving the generator sets into their operating position. Ex- tensive work had to be carried out on the exhaust extensions, which were manufactured up to three stories high through the ventilation shafts. “The Zest WEG Group Generator Sets division can offer customised solutions to industrial and strategic, as well as critical applications, where lives depend on back-up electrical power,” says Kotze. “Standby diesel generators are vital for busi- nesses that have process plants or are involved in production. Wastage of product in the production process, when a power outage occurs usually out- weighs the cost of a generator over time,” Kotze explains. But while Zest WEG Group excels in making and installing customised solutions, Kotze

signed and installed sev- en 3 000 kVA MTU/WEG gensets, supplying 11 kV of continuous power to a graphite mine. Louis Kotze, Chief Operating Officer, Zest WEG Group Generator Set Division had this to say: "This was an excit- ing project for us. We normally provide solu- tions for the platinum, coal, ferrochrome and gold industries because South Africa is a mining

This generator set powered by a Volvo diesel engine coupled to a 630 kVA WEG alternator is installed at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

28 Electricity + Control

AUGUST 2018