Increasing electricity tariffs and ongoing load shedding have raised a lot of interest from private-sector clients looking to guarantee their energy security independent of electricity utility Eskom. Newly-appointed Energy Unit Leader at Zutari, Janice Foster, who took up the role in November 2020, notes that coupled with the global move towards ‘green’ energy, much of this interest is in renewable energy. For example she cites the recent announcement by Stellenbosch that it is investigating alternative energy sources to mitigate the impact of load shedding in the city.
Foster highlights that the national procurement of new generation capacity, specifically as emergency or backup power, was re-initiated with a Request for Proposals issued by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for the provision of 2 000 MW, by June 2022, under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producers Procurement (RMIPPP) Programme.
The Kathu solar PV project in the Northern Cape is just one of the renewable energy projects in which Zutari has been involved.
Zutari holds a leading position in the energy space as a co-creator of integrated solutions. This is endorsed by the fact that it has been involved in 50% of the submitted RMIPPP project bids, Foster says. A direct response to the short-term electricity supply gap identified in the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019, the RMIPPPP aims to alleviate the current electricity supply constraints that South Africa faces.
Adopting a similar approach to that established in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, the RMIPPPP, Foster points out, is the first programme of its kind to be technology-agnostic. This means that hybrid plants are an option, and may comprise multiple technologies such as gas, renewables and battery energy storage.
“Our client base extends from public-sector clients on a municipal and provincial level to private-sector clients such as project lenders and investors, owners and developers,” Foster says. As a multi-disciplinary engineering firm, Zutari has delivery units providing services across energy, water, infrastructure, transport, resources and manufacturing and advisory sectors.
The energy unit comprises four-teams: generation, transmission and distribution, industrial power and automation, and systems studies and network planning. Hence the unit provides services across the full spectrum of energy projects from small-scale individual projects to regional-level modelling. The industrial team focuses on design delivery of electrical power and automation systems in the energy, mining, oil and gas, water, wastewater and renewable energy industries.
“One of our major competitive advantages in the energy space is that we are a one-stop shop. Working closely with Zutari’s other delivery units, we can do everything from providing environmental assessments to detailed geotechnical investigations and structural design, and of course all the detail in terms of electrical engineering,” Foster explains. “Our energy unit includes highly experienced individuals and operates across the continent, providing end-to-end services.”
Another advantage for Zutari is that its expertise resides largely in South Africa, providing for quicker and easier access to its clients’ challenges. With the company focusing on engineered solutions mainly in sub-Saharan and East Africa, it is very active in the energy sector in the region.
he energy unit works with other Zutari teams to deliver integrated solutions. “We have developed a number of innovative digital tools around solar photovoltaic design automation and performance-monitoring tools. We also have an in-house 3D visualisation team that allows us to present all these solutions to our clients in that space,” Foster points out.
In terms of challenges, she highlights that technological change tends to outpace policy or legislation. “At the moment that is probably one of the biggest limiting factors to opening up the energy market. If you look at the sheer pace of change, energy-storage battery systems, for example, were considered financially unviable not even two years ago; now almost every new generation project looks to consider battery storage. Meanwhile, hydrogen is being flagged as the next big thing in energy.”
With a background in nuclear and wind energy, Foster states that her remit as the Energy Unit Leader is to position it to capitalise on the growth opportunities on the continent over the next couple of years. “The current global interest in energy and energy security in particular keeps things moving,” she says. “What I really love about the sector is that every client and project is different and presents their own unique challenges. It definitely keeps us all on our toes.”
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