Logistical considerations favour small-scale power projects

Lack of infrastructure is
driving up the cost of
delivering power projects in
Africa, according to Albert
Bossart, regional sales manager
– power
generation for
ABB in Sub-
Saharan Africa.
“When you
start with a
project the first
thing that has
to be looked
at is what
infrastructure
is available,”
he said during
a panel
discussion on
energy delivery in Africa at
the annual Breakbulk Africa
conference recently held in
Johannesburg. “Also one must
remember because of limited
infrastructure everything goes
more slowly. Every last thing
must be brought into these
remote sites in containers while
the conditions under which
people are working is difficult.
At the same time there is no
accommodation or medical care
for workers
and so all of
this needs to
be provided –
which is over
and above the
usual project
costs.”
Bossart said
another cost
in Africa was
that of security.
“Projects and
the people
working on
them have to be protected. So
one has to employ a number of
security guards, and fences have
to be constructed across large
perimeters to safeguard the
project. There are many aspects
to consider and it is not cheap.”
He said more often
than not projects were
also in remote locations
that were not necessarily
easy to access – and
while rail would be
the best option to
transport cheaply
and fast it
was nonexistent
in
Africa while
ports were
also often
congested.
“We are also having to
use 20-foot containers more
often because of the lack of
infrastructure rather than 40
footers which would be cheaper.”
But, he said, logistically
speaking there was some
relief in that there was greater
demand for smaller scale
projects. “So instead of building
a 50-megawatt plant one is
looking at maybe five or ten as it
increases the capacity over time
and so there is a trend to deliver
capacity in phases.”
He said while a 50-megawatt
plant would be good business
it was a cost and logistical
nightmare in Africa.
“You would start with say
1000 containers for a project
like that and the first question
is where would you find the
trucks to move that amount of
cargo? So it is more advisable
to optimise logistics and do the
projects in phases.”
INSERT & CAPTION
There is no
accommodation or medical
care for workers and so
all of this needs to be
provided.
– Albert Bossart