Cold Link Africa March/April 2019 | Page 4

NEWS INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN Refrigeration in Africa: having feet on the ground is everything By Dawie Kriel, head of EP Refrigeration – a division of Energy Partners and part of the PSG Group W ith the industrial and retail mini-multiplex solution that was highly new projects and replicating that model sectors on the African energy efficient. With energy tariffs in the in other emerging regions. Kenya is one continent growing at an region standing at around 50–80% higher of the regions that stands out for us, exponential rate, the demand for than South African tariffs, efficiency was because of the size and growth of its large-scale refrigeration infrastructure one of the biggest drivers of the system, economy at present. Having clients that is higher than ever. We explore Energy as well as the outsource model, which know us either by reputation or through Partners’ move into the rest of Africa. guarantees the lowest possible life cycle past partnerships opens the doors of cost and reliability. business and makes the entry easier. This demand for large-scale refrigeration infrastructure has led to At the same time, we also realised In our case, our first opportunity came a steady increase in service providers that the system needed to be robust through a client that we had previously looking towards emerging economic because of the unavoidable fact partnered with in South Africa. It is hubs in countries like Kenya and Ghana that our response times in terms of also advantageous that many of the for opportunities. emergency maintenance would be companies setting up operations in much longer than if the project were in Kenya are South African and prefer to South Africa. work with other South African service However, despite the growing opportunities, Africa still presents a few significant challenges for We therefore had to build more providers. the refrigeration industry. State-of- diversity than normal into the system, the-art refrigeration is only able to to limit the impact of any major in Kenya yet — which necessitates run at optimal levels if it is actively maintenance issues. This means that the much more time and planning maintained and monitored, which client can still maintain close to normal when conducting maintenance and means the first challenge is to ensure operation even if a portion of the plant operations — we are certainly looking that skilled technicians are within goes offline. at ways of putting teams in the region to reach of the client. This is why establishing a presence in With that said, it is still not possible to service a large-scale project such as While we do not have an office increase the project’s efficiency. Lastly, there is Malawi, where we also any given region is crucial if one plans this from outside the country. As such, recently completed a few projects. As on building any long-term relationships EP Refrigeration runs its operation and is the case with Kenya, we do not yet with a client. A case in point is the maintenance of this project from the have teams on the ground. Katima Mulilo, situated in Namibia’s Energy Partners office in Windhoek. Manufacturing is actually not Zambezi region, where EP Refrigeration The success of this project has led recently established the first outsourced to EP Refrigeration securing another manufactured in our South African refrigeration solution for a major retailer contract in the Oshana region in the factories, and pre-assembled and tested operating within the region. north of Namibia with the same client. before packing in shipping containers to The above is an example of how be deployed on site. In many cases, the The project was for the revamp of a problematic, as all our units are large store operated by a large South operating in Africa can be done right, container can also double as a plant African retail chain. We designed a and we are currently looking at finding room, which means that the completed refrigeration system arrives on site, and just needs to be connected to the store or factory before starting to operate. The packing lists have to be well planned, because there are no guarantees that any of the components — even screws — can be sourced locally. The biggest advantage of rolling out refrigeration projects in the rest of Africa, is that it also opens a door for the rest of the Energy Partners’ divisions. Most customers who want a refrigeration system, also show an interest in solar generation or water supply, which is why it is extremely beneficial to be part COLD LINK AFRICA PUBLISHED BY Interact Media Defined (Pty) Ltd 13A Riley Rd, Bedfordview 2009, South Africa PO Box 695, Edenvale, 1610 Tel: [phone] | Fax: [phone] Web: www.interactmedia.co.za PUBLISHING UNIT LEAD: Dale Macnamara [email protected] Editor: Ilana Koegelenberg [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES External sales: Dale Macnamara [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS: Maxlee Marange | [email protected] Timothy Sibuyi | [email protected] SUBEDITOR: Elaine Enslin [email protected] DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Glyniss Bone [email protected] PROCESS COORDINATOR: Estelle Thurtle [email protected] MANAGEMENT Operations: Chantelle van Deventer [email protected] Content: Benjamin Brits [email protected] Finance: Laetitia Arnott [email protected] Managing director: Richard Bicker Caarten PRINTING: Paarl Media / TYPO DISTRIBUTION: [email protected] CIRCULATION: Jul - Dec 2018 Total free distribution 2803 ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY PRINTING All paper is sourced from the Forest Stewardship Council and Chain of Custody-certified suppliers. 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Tel: [phone] | Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.ombudsman.org.za for the press code This publication subscribes to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Code of Conduct which represents truthful advertising. Should any reader feel or believe that advertising in this publication lacks substantiation, is dishonest or misleading in any way, they may refer to the ASA, www.asasa.org.za. of a group that can provide these core services as well. Africa has some of the fastest- growing economies on the planet at the moment, and getting a foot on the ground in any of these regions can lead OFFICIAL PUBLICATION to a chain of opportunities for one’s business. CLA Despite the growing opportunities, Africa still presents a few significant challenges for the refrigeration industry. 4 www.coldlinkafrica.co.za COLD LINK AFRICA • March/April 2019