TECHNOLOGY
GENERATING
ALTERNATIVE POWER
By Ntsako Khosa
With internal structures collapsing at the national power utility, this is likely to put pressure
on the grid and we could see the return of load-shedding. Gensets or generators are the
next alternative. We look at the options and available product offerings.
Maverick Generators specialise in parallel synchronisation systems, which means several smaller generators can be run in parallel to produce the
same output as a single large unit. Benefits include a huge saving in capital outlay as well as lower fuel consumption for the same capacity.
Decades of service
Experience plays a huge role in selecting
a generator supplier. This is what the Zest
WEG Group Diesel Generator Sets division
prides itself in. For more than 30 years,
they have been supplying solutions from
concept design right through to handover.
Based in Cape Town, they offer design,
engineering, manufacturing, and assembly
capabilities.
“Our power plants include combustion
engines for fuel types including diesel or
gas. We are also able to offer solutions
for renewable combinations,” explains
Louis Kotze, chief operating officer
of Zest WEG Group. Sectors that the
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company sees itself active in include
mining, industrial, water treatment,
distribution warehousing, retail shopping
centres, hotels, commercial office space,
health, and banking. “Our customers
include property developers, critical
power facilities, engineering consultants,
electrical contractors, mines, and small to
medium-sized diesel generator suppliers
all over Africa,” Kotze says.
The group believes that their main
differentiator is the combination of their
extensive range of products and depth
of in-house expertise. “On the one end,
we supply a standard stand-alone diesel
generator as small as 12kVA, 220V, and
at the other end, we can leverage our
skills capacity and produce a turnkey
power plant solution at megawatt level,
synchronised to the grid at kilovolt level,”
he says.
They also produce low- and medium-
voltage alternators, step-up or step-
down transformers, as well as control-,
synchronisation-, and switch panels. A
challenge that Kotze identifies is economic
pressure caused by the downturn in local
South African infrastructure development.
“While other African countries have their
own economic and logistical challenges,
we are looking to expand our local
distributor networks with the relevant
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