Engineering and professional services firm WSP has confirmed that in October 2021, it was appointed as the engineer for the Eskom Battery Energy Storage Solutions (BESS) project which includes a number of Eskom distribution sites in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. WSP’s responsibilities include engineering, assistance in procurement, construction supervision, project management, and commissioning services for the project.
The project, to deliver 800 MWh BESS in total, is divided into three packages across the seven Eskom distribution sites. The first package at the Skaapvlei substation in the Western Cape entails the design, supply and installation, and commissioning of BESS for a minimum of 80 MW/320 MWh usable capacity. The second package focuses on the Melkhout, Eastern Cape, and Pongola and Elandskop, KwaZulu-Natal substations for a minimum of 35 MW/140 MWh at Melkhout, 40 MW/160 MWh at Pongola, and 8 MW/32 MWh at Elandskop. The third package is for the Paleisheuwel, Graafwater and Hex substations in the Western Cape. It is for a minimum of 10 MW/40 MWh at Paleisheuwel, 4.5 MW/25 MWh at Graafwater, and 20 MW/100 MWh at Hex. All the packages include five years of operations and maintenance.
The professional team from WSP is responsible for providing assurance on engineering design, construction supervision, and project management for the BESS project. It will also supply the professional engineering services to review the deliverables provided by Eskom and other third parties to integrate and coordinate the overall engineering. WSP will analyse the technical specifications, perform the technical evaluation of tenders, and provide professional assistance for the procurement of the packages identified for the project.
During the construction phase, WSP will act as the engineer on behalf of Eskom and will monitor plant and equipment manufacturing as well as monitor and inspect the construction, commissioning, and testing of the contracted works of the contractors and their subcontractors in providing, installing, and setting to work the project.
In addition, acting on behalf of Eskom as its engineer, WSP will be authorised to communicate with the EPC contractors for clarification and resolution of technical issues.
Instrumental guidance
As part of the detail design process, WSP will perform a HAZOP analysis to identify potential hazards and operability problems that could be caused by deviations from the design baselines.
“The HAZOP analysis is used to evaluate the design for possible flaws or undesirable effects and interactions with vendor designs. Together with the LSA process, this will ensure that potential failures are identified and eliminated during the detail design process,” says Dinesh Buldoo, Director: Power, WSP in Africa.
WSP will also oversee the construction phase of the project which will include all tasks from the design and engineering activities to the handover from the EPC contractors to Eskom. The purpose of this stage is to check that the EPC contractors provide a quality service in line with the EPC contract and within the stipulated budget and time frames.
“Our extensive international experience and successful history in BESS deployments and applications made WSP the logical partner for Eskom. As part of this assignment, WSP will assist Eskom in maintaining a complete set of project plans and drawings throughout the construction, start-up, testing, and initial operation of the project. We will review the project’s design, perform construction and site management services on behalf of Eskom during the construction phase,” Buldoo adds.
During the project, WSP will witness the start-up, commissioning, and performance test procedures. It will verify these as well as the reliability and dependable capacity testing of the facilities and provide comments to Eskom with respect to the EPC contractor’s performance, reliability, and plant dependable capacity tests.
WSP will also develop a detailed engineering schedule that integrates with the overall project implementation schedule and supports the construction and commissioning plan. The schedule will include and support all the engineering services to be provided by the firm.
For more information visit www.wsp.com
