Mammoth export demands mammoth organisation

THE RECENT departure by air of a 2.2 ton power electronics system bound for Utah in the US marked a major coup for the TSI Division of Eskom Enterprises, which was commissioned to build the unit at short notice to provide voltage support for the northern hemisphere. The urgency of the shipment precluded the seafreight option and Cape Town-based SA Express Line had its time cut out to arrange the logistics of the project. The unit was assembled in Boksburg and road-hauled to Stellenbosch for software integration and final performance testing. It was subsequently hauled back to Johannesburg International Airport since no airline was able to accommodate a unit of that size on the domestic leg. The order is in line with Eskom's strategic intent to diversify and pursue export markets. It has already fulfilled orders in Italy and the US, with good prospects in Australia, according to Eskom Enterprises' chief engineer, technology strategies, David Blake. The local market is also strong. The electronics system was backed up by vanadium-based energy storage produced by Highveld Steel and Vanadium which was seafreighted to its destination also by SAEL.