Construction World February 2015

CONSTRUCTION WORLD

FEBRUARY

2015

PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS

The establishment of the R300-mil-

lion, 23 000 m

DCD Wind Towers

manufacturing facility marks a

new era for South Africa's renew-

able power generation capabilities, while

contributing to the long term stability of

national electricity supply.

The DCD Wind Towers manufacturing

facility, located at the Coega Industrial

Development Zone (IDZ) in the Eastern Cape,

is a joint initiative between the DCD Group,

the Industrial Development Corporation

(IDC) and the Coega Development Corpora-

tion (CDC).

The facility was specifically established

in the Coega IDZ to support the localisation

of wind tower manufacturing in South Africa,

which essentially ensures the long term and

sustainable creation of an estimated 150 to

200 operational positions and 628 construc-

tion jobs.

DCDWind Towers general manager Gerrit

Viviers notes that the direct operational

jobs created through the establishment

of the DCD Wind Towers factory include;

boilermakers,

shot-blasting

operators,

cutting operators, chamfering operators,

roller operators, coded welders and fitters.

"A number of unskilled and semi-skilled

individuals will be employed for sand

blasting, painting and plasma cutting.

The benefits to the local economy will

penetrate beyond local skilled jobs and

training to include logistics opportunities

and additional value chain opportunities,

thus creating a new industry in the Eastern

Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape too,"

he explains.

DCD Wind Towers is also contributing

positively to sustainable and renewable

power generation, as set out by the Depart-

ment of Energy’s Renewable Energy Inde-

pendent Power Producer Procurement

Programme (REIPPPP). DCD Wind Towers

has already signed co-operation agreements

with the turbine manufacturers that have

been successful in round two of the REIPPPP.

The DCDWind Towers factory is expected

to manufacture between 120 and 150 towers

per year for the successful bidders in the

REIPPPP programme. These towers will be

manufactured to the highest international

standards of quality and to exact OEM speci-

fications, while remaining uniquely local.

A NEW ERA FOR

SA manufacturing

DCD Wind Towers has officially completed its first in-house

manufactured wind tower, which was transported to the

Grassridge Wind Energy Facility in Nelson Mandela Bay in

September 2014. Following this historic feat, the company plans

to step up production

volumes in the coming months.

CDC head of marketing and communications

Ayanda Vilakazi, notes that the DCD Wind

Towers manufacturing facility will diversify

the traditionally automotive sector reliant

Nelson Mandela Bay industrial base.

"We want to attract investors to the

Coega IDZ who are able to add value to

the supply chain and align with national

government’s drive for localisation of manu-

facturing, especially in the renewables

sector where there are many gaps for high-

tech innovation and manufacture. A prime

example of the success of this approach is

DCD Wind Towers."

IDC senior account manager for the

metal, transport and machinery products

unit, Joseph Sithole, believes that the manu-

facturing sector is of tremendous impor-

tance to South Africa's long term economic

prospects, and suggests that the establish-

ment of the DCD Wind Towers manufacturing

facility is the first step in boosting investor

confidence within the renewables sector.

"Facilities such as this create direct jobs,

and sustain a largemany jobs in raw mate-

rial supply and service sectors. DCD Wind

Towers is vital to deepening the techno-

DCD Wind Towers manufacturing facility, the Eastern Cape is

set to become a leading wind energy hub.