Electrical installation at, and distribution to, South Africa’s first commercial cassava-starch project, in the Northern Province, has been completed by Gauteng consulting electrical engineer Eksteen & Le Roux.

The company was awarded the contract in March last year, which included the installation of a 28 km, 22 kV electricity feeder line at a cost of R1,2-million to provide a dedicated electricity supply to the R28-million project outside Pietersburg, reports engineer-in-training Giel van Niekerk, who headed up the project for the engineering company.

The feeder line was financed in part by the developer of the starch project, CS Manufacturing, and in part by electricity supplier Eskom through a 23-year contract agreement.

To meet all the plant’s electrical requirements, about 1,6 MVA is being supplied in bulk to the location, says Van Niekerk.

Most of this electricity will be used inside the plant for factory-processing equipment used to manufacture starch from the roots of the cassava plants, he explains.

The starch is expected to be used for animal feed and in the manufacture of paper and corrugated cardboard.

Electricity is also being supplied for the developer’s surrounding farmland where the cassava will be grown.

Apart from its involvement in the design and installation of the feeder line, the electrical consultant was also involved in the supply to a stepdown substation, transformer and a 2 000 A motor-control centre, as well as general lighting and distribution inside the plant.

Once it has reached full capacity, the factory is expected to produce about 60 t of starch a day, which could see it take up as much as 20% of South Africa’s starch market at present.

Although the consultant overcame technical and engineering difficulties easily, the contractual and administrative section of the project was challenging, Eksteen & Le Roux member Ed Kotze tells Engineering News.

As a result of months of negotiations between the developer, the electrical consultant and the electricity supplier, construction of the feeder line only started in December last year, but was completed in time for the factory to come on-line at the end of January this year, he reveals.

The company, founded by Ryno Eksteen and Chris Le Roux in 1981, mainly offers its consulting services to electrical-supply installations for light industries and office buildings, as well as electrical distribution projects, says Kotze.

The company is involved in a number of electricity-reticulation projects around Johannesburg at present, as well as a number of turnkey projects in the Eastern Cape.

Participating in an extremely competitive industry, the company aims to provide cost-effective, quality service in the minimum time, says Kotze.

“In the depressed economic circumstances South African industries are finding themselves in at present, it is essential for an electrical consultant to be able to supply a suitable design of appropriate quality in the available amount of time,” he says.

With developers not willing to pay any more than necessary, electrical engineers are having to offer excessive discounts in order to survive.

Although the company does not see any short-term solution to this situation, it is positive about its continuous participation in future projects, concludes Kotze.