South African Business 2025

OVERVIEWEngineeringNew

OVERVIEWEngineeringNew engineering capacity is available in Richards Bay.Bell Heavy Industries has been launched. In 2023, Bell Equipment,the manufacturer of well-known yellow Articulated DumpTrucks (ADTs), announced that it would be offering servicessuch as complex engineering, heavy fabrication and machiningto other companies. In making the point that the company’s staff iswell-equipped to offer these sophisticated services, Bell Equipment’sGroup Business Development Director, Stephen Jones, noted,“South Africa has seen a huge reduction in engineering companiesand in response, we have strategically positioned our South Africanmanufacturing facility to fill this void by providing project engineeringand contract manufacturing through BHI.”Bell’s range of equipment includes Excavators, Backhoe Loaders,Wheeled Loaders, Telescopic Handlers, Skid Steer Loaders and Gradersthat are used in the mining, earthmoving and agriculture sectors. Thecompany is a notable exporter and was named the overall winner at the2023 South African Capital Equipment Export Council (SACEEC) Exporterof the Year Awards.There is more economic activity in the Northern Cape thanmany South Africans know about. The towns of Kuruman andPofadder have no fewer than three Country Hotels properties – each.Many of the professionals staying in these hotels, lodges and innsare engineers, working on an ever-increasing number of miningexpansions or solar or wind renewable energy projects.Another town that might not be a little town for much longeris Kathu. Ensor was contracted by the Provincial Government of theNorthern Cape to develop and extend Kathu West with approximately 5700 stands some years ago. More recently GAP Infrastructure Corporation(GIC) has been doing township developments and road, water networkand stormwater projects across the province. The water network projectentails installing an internal water-reticulation system that will includereliable house connections, water meters, fire hydrants and isolationvalves, providing the community with a stable and secure water supply.The sewer network project aims to install robust uPVC sewer pipes andconcrete manholes with heavy-duty covers.Many South African engineering concerns are filling their orderbooks with renewable energy infrastructure orders, and its not just in theNorthern Cape. The Eastern Cape is rapidly becoming known as the “WindProvince” while Mpumalanga is attracting a lot of attention because of theexistence of significant grid infrastructure supporting power plants, manyof which are due to be decommissioned soon. Solar and wind projectscould then get access to the grid cheaply.The country has ambitious plans to generate more power fromsolar, hydro-electric and wind plants and fit more rooftop solar panelsSECTOR INSIGHTRenewable energy contractsare filling order books.to houses and businesses. Onesuch project in the NorthernCape, the Redstone ConcentratedSolar Thermal (CSP) power plant,represented a substantial foray forGrinaker-LTA’s engineering divisioninto the renewable energy field.Some of the key aspects whichGrinaker-LTA was responsible forincluded hot and cold storagetank bases, civil works, the steamgeneration structure and themolten salt pump towers. The100MW plant is the first projectfinancedCSP with molten-saltcentralreceiver in the world.ACWA Power, a Saudi developer,investor and operator of powergeneration plants, and Chineseengineering company SEPCOIIIElectric Power ConstructionLimited, managed the project andthey jointly appointed Grinkaker-LTA as the contractor to executethe construction of the project’scritical structures.Also in the Northern Cape,engineering skills are beingSOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 202560PHOTO: Bell Equipment

OVERVIEWexpanded by new work associated with radio astronomy. Local artisansfrom the town of Carnarvon have built telescopes for a radio telescopearray project, the 350-dish HERA project, which is led by the USNational Science Foundation with the South African Radio AstronomyObservatory (SARAO) acting as the local partner, responsible for systemsengineering and construction, among other duties. At one point, theconstruction team grew to 20 and many news skills were learnt.When dairy company Clover decided to consolidate its nationaloperations into just four plants, technological expertise was neededto make sure those factories were able to cope with greater demand.One such company was Energy Partners Refrigeration (EPR) who werecontracted to tackle a number of issues, including increased powerrequirements to higher refrigeration load as well as increased steamdemand and pressure requirements. The upgrade of the coolingstructure featured the installation of a new 10MW ammonia systemand 16% of all the electricity used by the new system is generated bysolar PV. An innovative aspect of the project is that Clover has a Coolingas-a-Service(CaaS) contract, a pay-per-use model that removes theONLINE RESOURCESConsulting Engineers South Africa: www.cesa.co.zaEngineering Council of South Africa: www.ecsa.co.zaSouth African Institute of Electrical Engineers: www.saiee.co.zalarge upfront investment cost asa barrier to improved efficienciesand improved environmentalperformance.Marine repair and engineeringform a significant sector in theWestern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal,with established companiessuch as EBH South Africaoffering comprehensive services.Both KwaZulu-Natal ports areexpanding and will continue toattract engineers.The Engineering Council ofSouth Africa has a programmewhere trainees can earn certificatesin specific disciplines from a rangeof institutions. The qualificationsare in line with the council’s ExitLevel outcomes. Six of SouthAfrica’s biggest constructioncompanies have established aR1.25-billion skills fund. ■SUPPLYING INDUSTRIAL ANDSPECIALTY GAS PRODUCTS TO THESOUTHERN AFRICAN REGIONwww.airproducts.co.za