This article looks at the history, offerings and achievements of Steinmüller Africa, and of the company’s executive director, Moso Bolofo.
Steinmüller Africa Executive Director, Moso Bolofo.
Steinmüller Africa prides itself on its cutting-edge technologies, positioning itself as a frontrunner against current and potential competitors. These technologies align with its vision to establish Steinmüller Africa as the preferred supplier for managing steam generation and reticulation plants in sub-Saharan Africa.
The company's solutions encompass explosive welding, induction bending, automatic welding, and numerical analysis. Notable amongst these are:
- Induction bending: Precision bending of straight pipes, even for custom or large radius bends, is accomplished using the Cojafex PB 850 induction bending machine, one of two in Africa. This machine is capable of bending pipes with diameters from 48.3 mm to 850 mm, and wall thickness of up to 100 mm, can be accommodated to create bend angles of up to 180°.
- Numerical analysis: Steinmüller Africa supersedes competitors with its in-house numerical modelling and analysis capabilities, accurately assessing fluid dynamic behaviour in boiler systems, heat exchangers and boiler auxiliary equipment.
- Explosive welding: The company offers explosive welding, a unique method for fusing materials, even dissimilar ones, resulting in high-quality welds on high-pressure parts and pipelines.
For over six decades, Steinmüller Africa has serviced steam-generation, processing, and reticulation plants across diverse market segments. These include power generation, chemical and petrochemical, mining and steel beneficiation, pulp and paper and nuclear industries.
Moso Bolofo's career at Steinmüller Africa has been marked by significant achievements, such as the completion and opening of the Majuba power station, capable of generating 4 110 MW of electrical power. The company also successfully de-mothballed the Simunye stations, including Camden, Komati and Grootvlei power stations. They further secured a four-year boiler and HP piping contract at eight Eskom power stations, which commenced in January 2022. The contract contributed to the retention of 600 jobs and will help create an addition 2 400 employment opportunities.
The opening of Steinmüller Africa’s 30 000 m2 Pretoria-based workshop and the re-establishment of complete boiler manufacturing capacity, which marks higher temperature/pressure piping capability in South Africa, also took place within Bolofo’s tenure.
The future
In the medium term, the company’s aim is to diversify its client base as well as its service offerings. This entails exposing new clients to its existing products while expanding its new product selection, such as heat exchangers, for example, for new and existing clients. Steinmüller Africa also plans to target new industries, taking its offerings to a broader market.
The company has a strong focus on maintenance projects and the life extension of existing plants. The emergence of independent power producers presents another opportunity for Steinmuller Africa to set up new plants. Recently, Steinmüller Africa was involved in enquiries for the supply of concentrated solar power plants in the Northern Cape. This means that any steam-using operation in the solar industry is also a potential new client.
Over the short-term, the company is set to exceed customer expectations in executing its four-year boiler contract in the power generation sector and aims to secure the next installment of this massive contract. The Pretoria-based workshop has been re-established as a centre of excellence for manufacturing pressure parts and clients will continue to be supported in the numerous industries it serves.
Steinmüller Africa remains committed to continuing its mission of executing complex tasks for our clients, enabling them to focus entirely on their core competencies.
