MechChem Africa November-December 2020

Zutari: Africa’s renewable energy pioneer MechChem Africa talks to Paul Nel, Energy leader for Zutari, who tells of the company’s renewable energy journey and shares his excitement at being back home to service the South and continental African markets. “W e have been excep- tionally successful in building a renewable energy business within I feel that it’s a real privilege to be involved in developing solutions for this continent,” he adds.

Nel says that, throughout its energy busi- ness, Zutari has world-class technical ability. “Wehave the ability to godeepwhen it comes to technical expertise. On the solar PV, side for example, a lot of companies will fulfil technical advisory or owners engineers roles in theseprojects. Socanwe, but inadditionwe can also offer the engineering design detail, so we can carry a project all the way from due diligences and feasibility, looking at the potential of an asset in terms of the capital investment required and, based on available energy forecasts, the expected electrical energy yields and financials returns,” he says. Paul Nel believes that, on the African con- tinent, Zutari is the best engineering house in the energy space, citing the company’s hydro abilities as evidence. “We believe we are the leading local hydro consultant in Africa. We

Zutari Energy Leader - Paul Nel

the engineering consultancy space, not only in South Africa but across the African con- tinent,” begins Nel. “We have done projects all over all over Africa, in Ghana, Nigeria, Burundi Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar and many others. “In South Africa, we have been involved in around 70% of all of the REIPPPP projects completed to date, starting from the very first bidding round some seven years ago.We understand the African and South African energy markets, so we are very strong and comfortable here,” he tells MechChem Africa . “As a company, we were born and raised in Africa, so it feels good to have returned to our roots. Our collaboration with the global Aurecon Group enabled us to learn so much, but we have always been proudlyAfrican and

are currently involved with a 40 MW hydro plant in Nigeria, two in Burundi and a further two smaller plants in the Northern Cape and Free State Provinces of South Africa. We are also assisting with a hydro refurbishment and engineering for a Greenfields project in Uganda, along with a large transaction in Tanzania that involves acombinationofHydro and wind. “Hydro projects require an exceptional skills set and we can offer the hydro-me- chanical, hydro-electrical and civil/struc- tural aspects of these plants, large or small,” he reveals. “We really are a one stop shop,” he contin- ues. “Wedonot simplydoelectrical plants, we cando roads, gridconnectionstudies, detailed

Having provided engineering, design, construction supervision and commissioning services for the 4.2 MW Stortemelk hydropower scheme on the Ash River in South Africa, Zutari is a leading local hydro consultant in Africa.

34 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2020