ACTOM High Voltage Equipment has secured a contract to supply and deliver high-voltage equipment for the Selebi-Phikwe photovoltaic solar power plant, currently under construction in Botswana.
The 120 MW solar photovoltaic facility is being developed by the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and project owner SCATEC, a Norwegian company that specialises in renewable energy systems. The scope of the contract is to supply and deliver the full range of 220 kV high-voltage equipment for the grid connection scope of the project, where power generated by the solar farm will be stepped up and fed into BPC’s electricity network. Once completed, the solar plant is expected to supply enough clean energy to power 20 000 households and to offset 48 000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. This is a very important step in Botswana’s green energy transition.
International technology partners
Divisional CEO, Casbah Zwane says that ACTOM High Voltage Equipment will be sourcing the equipment from its technology partners in Spain, India and China, as this voltage equipment is not manufactured locally. He adds that the manufacturing of these components has already started and should be delivered to the project by the end of September 2024. “By relying on our global technology partners, we have shown that we can diversify our supply chain to meet the demands of the current energy environment. We have the capacity to deliver via a diverse supply chain network as we are not just limited to our factories in South Africa,” he adds.
Zwane notes that one of ACTOM High Voltage Equipment’s main differentiators that helped it secure the contract is that it can supply these components within the project’s very tight time frames. “That really gave us the competitive advantage over our rivals and was an even more important differentiator than pricing. We have demonstrated that if the demand requires it, we can leverage the various factories that are part of our global network,” he says.
Bullish on phase 2
After the completion of the first phase, ACTOM is confident that it will also secure a similar contract for the second phase of the project, which will see the installation of the remaining 60 MW capacity at the solar farm. “This is a key project for ACTOM High Voltage Equipment since it exposes us to more opportunities to expand our export markets. We are most known as a South African company with a very strong local focus, but as part of ACTOM’s growth strategy, we have strong intentions to grow outside of South African borders and even beyond southern Africa,” he says. “Becoming part of SCATEC’s supply chain definitely gives us access to opportunities beyond South Africa’s borders and on the African continent as a whole, given SCATEC’s significant footprint.”
While there is no formal aftersales or operation and maintenance contract in place with BPC, Zwane says ACTOM High Voltage Equipment is positioned to assist the power generation, transmission and distribution entity with maintenance, repair and replacement of the equipment supplied to the project.
“One of our other main differentiators is that we have the capacity to support the end customer with aftersales services, including maintenance of equipment for the life of the plant. This gives us another significant competitive advantage,” he concludes.
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