Electricity + Control December 2020

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN AFRICA

Renewable energy projects in Africa With its home base in South Africa and a clear focus on the African continent, engineering, design and advisory company Zutari has been involved in a substantial share of the utility-scale projects undertaken in SA’s REIPPP programme to date and is involved with a number of projects and regional initiatives in other African countries. Leigh Darroll put some questions to Paul Nel, Expertise Leader: Generation and Storage at Zutari, about projects currently in progress, and the benefits emerging from the wider implementation of renewable energy across Africa.

Paul Nel, Expertise Leader: Generation and Storage at Zutari.

Z utari has a strong engineering presence in Cape Town and Pretoria. The energy division operates along four business lines: generation, transmission and distribution, industrial energy solutions, and power system studies. Nel explains that these four operational lines provide a comprehensive energy service, including detailed design, owner’s engineer, construction supervision, O&M (opera- tions and maintenance) support, EPCM (engineering, pro- curement, and contract management), technical reviews, and due diligence and advisory work. In the electricity generation space, the Generation team is particularly strong in hydro, solar, wind, and gas as well as hybrid and storage technologies. The Transmission and Distribution team is a leader in transmission and distribution substation and line design, and has been involved with numerous grid connection projects for the REIPPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement) Programme, as well as elsewhere in Africa. The Power Systems and Planning team adds an advantageous ability to undertake complex network and planning studies required not only for local grid connections,

but also for the planning of large regional and cross-border transmission interconnections. The Industrial and Automation team operates mainly with large power users such as water and power utilities as well as resources industries, providing services pertaining to medium voltage (MV) system design, control systems and automation, and IoT implementation. Current projects In South Africa, Zutari is currently involved in supporting its clients in the RMIPPP (Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Programme) and in preparing for the long up- coming REIPPPP Round 5. Elsewhere in Africa the compa- ny is engaged in several interesting projects, such as the Toliara hybrid project in Madagascar where it is supporting a client with the development of a large solar, HFO (heavy fuel oil) and battery storage solution. It is also supporting a client in Malawi with the development and construction of two solar facilities. In Rwanda it is assisting with the design of the Natruka hydropower plant, and in Burundi, Zutari is the contractor’s engineer for the Jiji and Mulembwe hydro- power plants. More locally, the company is supporting Red

Zutari has been involved in a number of the REIPPP projects completed in South Africa to date, including wind and solar power projects.

16 Electricity + Control DECEMBER 2020