Steam generation solutions company Steinmüller Africa has won two honours at State-owned power utility Eskom’s Duvha Power Station awards, held in December, for delivering a “decade-first maintenance breakthrough”.

The company claimed the ‘Key Service Provider in Maintenance 2025’ and ‘Best Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Contribution Team’ awards at the power station’s yearly supplier recognition programme.

Steinmüller Africa provides comprehensive solutions for steam generation plants globally, covering every phase of the life cycle of high-pressure steam boilers and industrial boilers.

The use of drone technology and rapid-response capabilities are some of the reasons that earned Steinmüller Africa top honours at the Duvha Power Station awards.

The maintenance award “caps a watershed year” in which Steinmüller Africa completed South Africa’s first three-unit simultaneous shutdown in over a decade, a “logistical and technical feat” that has set a new benchmark for large-scale maintenance execution.

The accolade recognises operational breakthroughs that directly impact plant availability and cost control.

Steinmüller Africa deployed drone technology that eliminated high-risk manual inspections and built a rapid mobilisation model that turns multi-day emergency repairs into same- day solutions.

“Our team mobilises tube-leak repairs within hours, not days,” says Steinmüller Africa Duvha project manager Thomas Maduna.

He adds that Steinmüller plans, resources and executes under “intense time pressure”, while maintaining quality standards that “do not slip”, even on repetitive work.

“This award validates an approach that’s delivering measurable results for our clients.”

The maintenance shutdown saw three generating units serviced concurrently, requiring “precision coordination” across trades, compressed timelines and zero tolerance for safety compromises.

Equally transformative has been Steinmüller Africa’s introduction of the Elios 3 drone for furnace and confined-space inspections.

These inspections previously required the construction of sky climbers, which was expensive, time-consuming and dangerous.

The drone eliminated the need to put personnel into high-risk environments and delivered data-rich reporting, reducing inspection times and costs.

Notably, since the drone’s introduction, Steinmüller noted a decline in safety-related incidents and a reduction in downtime and operational expenses.

“Presence matters,” says Maduna, adding that leadership was on the ground throughout the execution, “unblocking issues in real time and recognising excellence as it happened”, which, in turn, drove performance.

Further, he noted that the company’s zero-harm philosophy has been embedded through daily toolbox talks and the ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ safety initiative, which has been supported by incentives for consistently safe behaviours.