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Volvo Trucks South Africa (SA) has started assembly of Euro 5 specification trucks at its plant in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Euro-5 truck variants have been available in South Africa since 2012, but are now for the first time assembled locally.

“More customers have ambitions to improve their environmental footprint, which is driving the uptake of Euro-5 models locally,” says Volvo Trucks SA sustainability manager Eric Parry.

“In general, the Euro-5 engines have a lower fuel consumption than an equivalent Euro-3 unit, which means that even though total costs are roughly the same because of the need for AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid in the vehicle, the carbon dioxide emissions are reduced with the lowering of fuel consumption.

“There is also the significant reduction in poisonous gases from the exhaust, which in turn improves the environment around the vehicle,” notes Parry.

Euro-5 assembly at the Durban plant adds to the current production line-up at the facility.

Volvo Trucks SA has kicked off Euro-5 assembly with FH truck-tractors, the company’s long-haul icon, as this is the most requested Euro-5 model with local customers.

More models and configurations will be added over time according to fleet owners’ demands.

“The need for local assembly also arose to reduce the import duty that is applied to full imports,” says Parry.

“This allows Volvo Trucks the opportunity to offer the cleaner technology in a more competitive way.”

Euro-5 assembly required some layout changes at the plant to accommodate AdBlue filling, as well as for storage.

Additional floor layout adjustments were also made to allow for new procedures like the assembly of AdBlue tanks and special exhaust systems.

“Operators have also received advanced training to assemble the new features connected to the Euro-5 specifications,” explains plant director Aubrey Rambau.

“Specialised training was also provided for road testers and product auditors to ensure the highest standards are maintained.”

Solar Energy

Volvo Trucks SA has installed a new solar power system to generate renewable energy for its Durban plant.

A total of 440 solar panels and two solar inverters generate 243 kW of power, which meets around 60% of the plant’s energy requirements.

“At Volvo, environmental care is fundamental to how we do business, and this project is another step in our energy efficiency journey,” says Rambau.

Volvo trucks are assembled in 13 countries across the globe.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is temporarily increasing Rand Water’s bulk water allocation as an emergency measure to address water shortages in South Africa’s economic hub.

Rand Water abstracts 4 400 megalitres of water and has already exceeded this allocation by over 1 600 megalitres since the start of the spring season to meet the rising use and demand across the Gauteng metropolitans, district and local municipalities.

Owing to this, Rand Water last week imposed a water supply reduction of 30% to safeguard the integrity of the system and to ensure continued water supply, further applying the flow control management of its reservoirs to stabilise and avoid the emptying of the reservoirs and a complete system crash.

“We note the increase in water use and restrictions imposed by Rand Water in response to deteriorating water levels in their reservoirs, therefore we will increase temporarily the allocation for abstraction of bulk water to Rand Water’s system in order to meet the demand,” says Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu.

This had followed an emergency meeting on Monday where the DWS engaged with Rand Water, representatives of the three metropolitans, and district and local municipalities affected by Rand Water’s water restrictions.

“This should bring relief to some metropolitans, namely Johannesburg, Tshwane and Mogale City district municipality, however the measure is for a period of 9 months while we seek more permanent solutions to water use and management,” he points out.

However, municipalities need to come up with measures to deal with those wasting water, including imposing penalties and addressing the challenge of water leaks on municipal reticulation systems.

“As a country we are experiencing the scarcity of water, yet we allow for up to 40% of our water to be lost to leaks. This undermines our efforts to address water challenges.”

A Water Room committee, comprising DWS, Rand Water and all Gauteng municipalities as well as the business sector, will be set up to provide holistic coordination, provision and management of the water system in the province.

Water use has increased over the past few weeks owing to a continued heatwave and delayed summer rains in the inland provinces, which has resulted in potable water being used for watering gardens and car wash enterprises, which typically would have been taken care of by rains, as well as water losses owing to leaks in the reticulation part of the system.

“There continues to be overuse in the province which puts a strain on the system that led to Rand Water having to inform their customers of the need to restrict. This does not imply that there is a crisis of water availability but is rather a means to manage the system through reduction and therefore bringing balance to the system,” Mchunu concludes.

The Master Builders Association (MBA) North has issued a practice note for its members aimed at helping them fight back against what it calls unethical contractual practices that have become prevalent in the industry.

MBA North executive director Mohau Mphomela says the association has noted with concern that a growing number of its members are finding themselves in trouble owing to unethical contractual practices forced on them by some professionals and employers.

“When you start to see contractors and subcontractors who have been in business for decades having to go into business rescue, then it’s clear there is something wrong,” he says.

“We convened a meeting with some of our leading members – contractors and subcontractors – to hear from them what challenges they were facing when it comes to contracts. The practice note is the fruit of that meeting.”

The note provides guidance about best practice when it comes to contracting for both contractors and subcontractors.

Brad Boertje, a construction risk management consultant and alternative dispute resolution practitioner for the MBA North, says that standard industry contracts, such as Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC) contracts, are the gold standard and should be followed to the letter.

These standard contracts should ideally not be amended, but, if amendments are made, they need to be agreed to by both parties and not one-directionally imposed by the developer or principal agent.

It is also vital that contractors and subcontractors take the time to populate the contract with all the relevant data. If a dispute arises later, an incomplete contract could prejudice the contractor, says Boertje.

The contract should be the full and complete record of all parties’ obligations to each other, he adds.

Contractors should not accede to requests to take on out-of-scope work on the promise that they will be “looked after” at a later stage – only to find that the client will not honour that payment.

The JBCC contracts are necessary because the Common Law does not cater for issues specific to the construction industry, says Boertje.

Another challenge is the issuing of incorrect payment certificates, or the non-issue of payment certificates.

Boertje cautions that “negative” payment certificates have become common, but they often do not reflect an accurate certification of the works.

“Contractors often find themselves having to litigate to get their money, which greatly impacts their cash flow.”

Construction or performance guarantees are yet another area where contractors are experiencing issues.

Boertje points out that contractors have the right to choose the kind of security they wish to offer.

He advises that construction guarantees are preferred to retentions. In the latter case, if the main contractor runs into business difficulties, the subcontractor may find that his or her retention is at major risk of being released.

“Because business conditions are so tough, contractors and subcontractors often find themselves being forced to condone unethical contractual practices, and then find themselves in trouble,” notes Mphomela.

“Yet they find it hard to fight back for fear of being precluded from future tenders.

“As an association, the time has come to say enough is enough. We must present a united front to demand adherence to ethical practices – to the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Four independent power producers have been named as successful bidders for the lease of grid-ready Mpumalanga land, which is being made available by Eskom as part of efforts to accelerate the development of wind, solar and storage projects in the province – investments that should, in time, help lower the risk of loadshedding and provide new employment and business opportunities in the region as coal plants are decommissioned.

The entities identified as having secured the 25- to 30-year property leases for parcels covering a total of 6 184 ha of land near the Majuba and Tutuka coal stations are HDF Energy South Africa, Red Rocket, Sola Group and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments South Africa.

The bidders, which were selected following a competitive process initiated in April, are now expected to finalise comprehensive feasibility studies to determine which technologies, and at what scale, they will build on the sites.

In addition, they will need to secure private offtakers for the electricity, which will not be bought by Eskom and will, thus, attract no National Treasury guarantee, as is currently the case for the utility-scale projects procured under the government-run Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

Instead, the private generators will sign bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private offtakers, and the projects should, thus, pose little or no financial risk to taxpayers or Eskom.

The final technology mix and size of the projects is yet to be determined, but Eskom CEO André de Ruyter stressed that the leases include a “use-it-or-lose-it” clause so as to ensure that the utility retains some control should projects fail to meet certain developmental milestones over the coming months.

Speaking at a signing ceremony, De Ruyter expressed confidence that the inaugural leasing of Eskom land would result in the development of wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of at least 2 000 MW over the coming 24 to 36 months, as well as the development of some battery storage capacity.

The electricity would also be wheeled across the Eskom grid, generating revenue for the cash-strapped utility from existing assets in the province.

It was also confirmed that Eskom would be issuing new tenders for other land parcels every quarter and that up to 30 000 ha could eventually be made available.

The next phase, to be initiated in the coming months, will focus on properties around the Kendal and Kusile power stations in Mpumalanga, as well as the retired Ingagane power station in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal.

Efforts would be made, with the assistance of Operation Vulindlela, to ensure that various land-use and environmental authorisations were secured on an expedited basis that projects could proceed as soon as possible.

“By making Eskom land available close to the power stations, where there is sufficient grid capacity, we have taken an innovative step to find the quickest way possible and within our scope of influence to boost the country’s generation capacity,” De Ruyter said.

Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer talks about the public hearings that were due to be held this week by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), but which had to be rescheduled owing to a poor response; what Nersa will do next; and the overall trend of waning interest in Nersa hearings.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has announced new dates for public hearings regarding its concurrence with three Ministerial determinations opening the way for the procurement of 18 771 MW of new electricity capacity, having initially cancelled hearings scheduled for this week, owing to a lack of response.

In a notice issued on October 13, Nersa announced that the time for public comment regarding its concurrence with the determinations had been extended and invited stakeholders to attend rescheduled virtual hearings on October 20 and 21, between 13:00 and 17:00 on both days.

Members of the public and stakeholders wishing to attend or present their views were requested to notify Nersa by October 19.

The fact that no stakeholders had approached the regulator to make input on the determinations came as a surprise, given that some questions had been raised recently about a determination for 3 000 MW of gas-to-power.

Initially, Nersa said that the 3 000 MW was based on an allocation for gas/diesel generation outlined in Table 5 of the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019, or IRP2019.

It later circulated an erratum on September 12 clarifying that the 3 000 MW arose from an Eskom application to deviate from the IRP2019 for a combined cycle gas power plant at Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.

It was anticipated that this deviation request would attract stakeholder comment, particularly given that some environmental groups had approached the Gauteng High Court recently to have the environmental authorisation for the project reviewed and set aside.

In a judgment delivered on October 6, Judge Anthony Miller dismissed an application for the granting of the environmental authorisation to be reviewed and set aside.

However, he ordered that a copy of the authorisation and the conditions attached, which had been published in English, be translated into isiZulu and published in at least two newspapers that circulated widely in the Richards Bay area of KwaZulu-Natal.

The other two determinations delivered to Nersa in August by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe are for 14 771 MW of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation allocated for in the IRP2019, but not yet catered for in an existing Ministerial determination for wind and solar PV, and 1 000 MW of ‘Other Distributed Generation, Co-Gen, Biomass, Landfill’ capacity for 2023 and 2024 also outlined in Table 5 of the IRP2019.

In confirming the extension for comment, Nersa cautioned that should it not receive any requests to present at the advertised public hearing by the closing date of this notice, it “retains the right not to hold the scheduled hearing”.

As the impasse between Transnet and its two recognised unions – the United National Transport Union (Untu) and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) – continues, organised business has called for a “swift, sustainable resolution”, as mining exporters warned that they were losing R815-million every day the strike continued.

In a joint statement, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) and Business Leadership South Africa rejected short-term solutions, such as temporarily increasing levies, which they said could have unintended consequences.

“We need a quick, sustainable resolution to this strike, not ad hoc solutions,” Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said.

“The strike risks severe damage to the economy not just in the short term but also the longer term if it drags on and South Africa’s reputation for logistics gets further tarnished.”

Both organisations rejected earlier media reports suggesting that they would support a so-called ‘Avoidance of Strike Levy’.

They also expressed anxiety over the prospect of the strike enduring for more than a few days, warning that cargo ships would not only skip slots at South African ports but start taking South African ports out of schedules in the months ahead.

“This will add significant costs to either airfreight items or truck goods to and from other African ports – which will add to the inflation pressures South Africans are facing.”

Minerals Council South Africa, meanwhile, estimated that bulk mineral exporters were losing R815-million daily, because they had been unable to rail and load 357 000 t of iron-ore, coal, chrome, ferrochrome and manganese onto ships.

“On average, South Africa exports about 476 000 t of bulk minerals a day worth R1.06-billion.

“We estimate that just 120 000 t of minerals worth R261-million are being exported daily, [given that] mineral export harbours are operating at between 12% and 30% of their daily averages,” the council said in a statement.

As with the other orgnaised business formations, the council also warned that the damage caused by the strike was not only limited to the immediate losses and could have longer-term consequences, including damaging South Africa’s reputation as a reliable supplier to global markets.

“The Minerals Council is deeply concerned that the labour action at Transnet will compound the losses our bulk mineral exporting members are already experiencing because of Transnet struggling to meet targeted annual tonnages on its rail network and throughput at ports.”

The council has estimated previously that there had been an export loss of R50-billion on an annualised basis this year for iron-ore, coal, chrome, ferrochrome and manganese exporters as measured by delivered tonnages against contracted rail volumes.

“In contrast, R151-billion could be gained in additional exports, with the concomitant benefits of employment in mining increasing by 40 000 jobs to 500 000, the fiscus benefiting from improved tax revenue and higher revenues for Transnet if all rail and ports systems were optimally and efficiently run at design capacity.”

EXTREMELY CONCERNED

In a separate joint statement, Ministers Pravin Gordhan, Thulas Nxesi and Thoko Didiza said they were “extremely concerned” about the negative impact of the strike on the South African economy.

“It is the view of government, that it will be in the interests of the country to find a speedy resolution to this impasse and for parties to continue to engage and, where appropriate, to employ the facilitation services of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

“Our country cannot afford further job losses in other sectors of the economy and the interruption of imports and exports to and from South Africa,” the three Ministers said.

Despite this growing pressure, Untu and Satawu have indicated they were likely to reject the latest three-year offer tabled by Transnet following two days of CCMA-facilitated negotiations.

The wage offer, which Transnet said would b...

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) cancelled two days of planned hearings called to receive public comment on the regulator providing its concurrence to three Ministerial determinations opening the way for the procurement of 18 771 MW of new electricity capacity.

Nersa said that the hearings had been cancelled as no requests were received from stakeholders to make representations on the matter.

In terms of Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act, the regulator is required to provide its concurrence prior the conclusion of the determination process by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.

It is also required to consult the public before offering such concurrence. This was confirmed in 2017 when the Western Cape High Court declared “unlawful and unconstitutional” government’s 2013 and 2016 determinations relating to the procurement of 9 600 MW of new nuclear on the basis that they had not been subjected to Nersa-led public consultations.

Three consultation papers were published by the regulator on August 26 regarding its concurrence with proposed Ministerial determinations delivered to it by Minerals Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe for the procurement of 14 771 MW of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, 3 000 MW of gas-to-power and 1 000 MW of ‘Other Distributed Generation, Co-Gen, Biomass, Landfill’ capacity.

The lack of concurrence on the new renewables Ministerial determination resulted in the National Energy Crisis Committee deciding recently to reduce the size of Bid Window Six of the renewables procurement programme from 5 200 MW to 4 200 MW.

President Cyril Ramaphosa initially announced that the size of the round would be doubled from 2 600 MW, but the solar PV allocation provided for by a previous determination was insufficient to allow for a doubling in the PV allocation to 2 000 MW. Therefore, only the wind allocation was doubled to 3 200 MW, while the solar allocation was held at 1 000 MW.

The potential opportunity cost became apparent after the bid submission deadline of October 3, when the IPP Office confirmed that the PV allocation was more than five-times oversubscribed with the combined capacity of the 33 solar PV bids being about 5 550 MW. By contrast the wind allocation was only 30% oversubscribed with the 23 bids having a combined capacity of about 4 100 MW.

GAS DEVIATION

In addition, Nersa circulated an erratum on September 12 in relation to it providing concurrence to a Ministerial determination for the procurement of 3 000 MW of gas-fired electricity.

In its original consultation paper, the regulator said that the 3 000 MW was based on an allocation for gas/diesel generation outlined in Table 5 of the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019.

In the erratum, however, it clarified that the 3 000 MW arose from an Eskom application to deviate from the IRP2019 for a combined cycle gas power plant at Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal.

It was anticipated that this deviation request would attract stakeholder comment, particularly given that some environmental groups had approached the courts recently to have the environmental authorisation for the project reviewed and set aside. That application failed.

The fact that no requests were made to make oral submissions also raised questions as to whether the hearings had been sufficiently advertised, as notice of the hearings could not be found on the Nersa website, nor on its social media platforms. There had been newspaper adverts, however.

Engineering News was unable to immediately confirm whether or not Nersa planned to readvertise the public hearings for a later date.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is being totally rebuilt, says PRASA strategy GM Anna-Marie Lubbe.

“We are hard at work rebuilding PRASA. It is not a recovery, it is not a rehabilitation [process] – it is a total rebuild.”

Lubbe adds that PRASA is focused on building a new rail system that will allow it to consistently offer a service that is fast, reliable and safe.

“I think that has been our downfall in the past; that we could not provide a consistently good service.”

PRASA operates a commuter passenger rail service, as well as a long-distance passenger rail service.

Lubbe says that PRASA saw destruction at a massive scale prior to Covid-19 and during the pandemic, especially on Cape Town’s central line and the Mabopane line in Gauteng.

Overhead traction equipment disappeared, substations were vandalised and signalling and telecommunications systems were destroyed.

“People also carried away our perway – our rail tracks. This is not someone who needs to buy bread, this is organised crime,” says Lubbe.

All of this meant that PRASA could only restart some services ­– six out of 40 lines – following the hard lockdown related to Covid-19.

“We are currently sitting at 15 lines, with 10% of the trains we normally run. Even where we introduced trains, we have limited service,” notes Lubbe.

She explains that PRASA cannot currently increase train frequency and speed and, therefore, ridership, because of the faltering signalling systems that must be rebuilt.

Lubbe says PRASA is rebuilding the commuter rail system corridor by corridor, with a focus on those lines carrying the most commuters first.

The first phase is to restore the service with a peak and offpeak service, but without fully functioning signalling systems and stations.

Phase 2 aims to revitalise and upgrade stations, build footbridges and have a programme of cleaning around the stations.

A war room that meets every week and reaches down to provincial level has been created to execute this programme.

“With the war room we have also been able to unlock some of our procurement issues,” adds Lubbe.

The corridors that PRASA wishes to still tackle this year includes the Central line from Langa to Nyanga.

In Gauteng, the aim is to retore the Johannesburg to Naledi corridor; Johannesburg to Leralla; and Pretoria to Johannesburg.

In KwaZulu-Natal the goal is to restore the Durban to KwaMashu and Durban to Umlazi lines next.

Lubbe adds that there is a strong focus on strengthening security systems within the new PRASA.

“We do not have a closed [rail] system – one of the few in the world. This open system leaves us vulnerable to theft and vandalism, so we want to close off our system.”

This means that all the depots are currently being walled off, with the rail corridors to follow, with the Mabopane service first in line.

“This is to protect commuters and our fare revenue,” says Lubbe. “This will all contribute to enabling us to run a consistent service with people who pay for the service they are using.”

Lubbe spoke at a Transport Forum event.

The Presidency insists that progress is being made to implement the plan outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25 to tackle load-shedding, which breached 4 100 GWh by the end of September – a level that is materially worse than the 1 776 GWh shed in 2021, the country’s previous worst load-shedding year.

However, The Presidency’s Rudi Dicks cautions that rotational power cuts are likely to remain a reality for at least another 18 months.

In a presentation delivered during the Chartered Governance Institute of Southern Africa’s recent conference, Dicks reiterated government’s acknowledgement that the power crisis represented the “single most important constraint on economic growth and job creation”.

He said that was why Ramaphosa had taken direct political responsibility for driving the interventions announced in July and was personally chairing the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom).

The committee also includes Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel.

Dicks himself oversees Operation Vulindlela, officials from which are performing secretariat functions for Necom, together with officials from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the National Joint Operational Intelligence Structure.

The plan includes both supply and demand interventions designed to close the gap between daily peak demand of about 33 000 MW and the 28 000 MW that was available for supply on average on most days.

Dicks reported that 20 of the plan’s 49 milestones – which ranged from efforts to improve Eskom’s plant performance and the procurement of surplus private and regional power, to the streamlining of regulatory processes to allow for the accelerated construction of private generation capacity – were progressing but that more time was needed to ensure that the interventions could make a sustainable impact.

“I'm not going to promise that load-shedding is going to end tomorrow; I don't think load-shedding is going to end in six months or even within 12 months.

“But we are working towards ensuring that we reduce the risk of load-shedding and, if we are able to implement this plan, we think in 18 months’ time we will be able to [stabilise the grid],” Dicks said.

He highlighted in particular Operation Vulindela’s success in unlocking the market for investment in new embedded generation capacity, reporting that it has supported, or is currently supporting, the fast-tracking of regulatory approvals for some 97 projects with a combined capacity of over 8 000 MW.

Most of these were solar photovoltaic projects, but there were also battery storage, biomass, diesel and wind projects in the pipeline.

The implementation of the plans under Necom, which is being supported by capacity from the private sector, were being driven by nine workstreams, including:

Workstream 1, which is focusing on improvements in the performance and availability of existing Eskom plant, as well as expanding and strengthening transmission infrastructure;

Workstream 2, which is aiming to cut red tape and expedite authorisations for independent power producers and embedded generators through an automated ‘one-stop shop’;

Workstream 3, which is focusing on expediting the connection of generation capacity from existing and future procurement rounds, as well as on measures to enable private investment and small-scale embedded generation;

Workstream 4, which is seeking to enable the emergency procurement of electricity and maintenance;

Workstream 5, which will develop a detailed plan to improve demand management and ensure implementation of energy efficiency and customer response measures;

Workstream 6, which is overseeing a coordinated plan by law enforcement agencies to address sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom;

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