Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has awarded a R60 million contract to a local joint venture to construct and operate the first-ever solar-powered, seawater desalination plant at the Port of East London.
This is part of TNPA’s multi-billion rand expenditure on critical infrastructure upgrades over the next few years, which include a desalination plant project to enable the ports operator to minimise dependency on external parties to provide water to the port system.
The move comes at a time South Africa faces deteriorating water infrastructure, which has led to parts of the country being water-shedded.
TNPA yesterday appointed a joint venture - Norland Civil Engineers & Contractors and Impact Water Solutions, trading as Sun Water East London - to construct and operate the desalination plant over seven years.
The Port of East London was chosen to be the first port, with the rest of the ports to follow, in line with the port growth strategy and expansion plans.
The plant will produce 0.5 mega litres per day and convert seawater into potable water in line with drinking quality standards in a bid to improve the reliability of freshwater supply to users of South Africa’s only river port.
TNPA’s acting CEO Advocate, Phyllis Difeto, said they had evaluated options to diversify the port’s water supply to achieve sustainable water supply in response to the drought and water supply challenges experienced nationally.
Difeto said the increasing water demand in TNPA’s ports in conjunction with the water challenges experienced by the Buffalo City Municipality accelerated the need to develop a sustainable water supply that would ensure resilient water security in all ports at TNPA.
“The introduction of this alternative water solution is a step towards the advancement of the port system and seeks to minimise TNPA’s reliance on external parties for the provision of freshwater,” Difeto said.
“The project is in line with the Ports Authority’s strategic plan of increasing its utilities supply resilience and ensuring security of utilities supply by 2029. The use of solar-power technology will help towards reducing the cost of operations.”
The project value is R60m and is earmarked to provide water to the equivalent of 5 000 people per day, with socio-economic impact resulting in employment creation within the infrastructure and construction value chain (including localisation).
It is believed that the increase in water supply enabled by the plant will enhance the city’s attractiveness for businesses in so doing generate new business opportunities such as enabling the green hydrogen economy for the Eastern Cape.
This awarding of the contract to the preferred bidder is for the design, manufacture, construct, test, and commission, operate, and maintenance of the seawater desalination plant at the Port of East London.
IWS, a South African company that offers a wide range of services in the water sector, has experience in developing, financing, building and operating decentralised water infrastructure by integrating renewable energy with the most innovative water technologies.
The other company in the JV, Norland Construction, specialises in concrete reservoirs, pipelines, irrigation canals and other building earthworks amongst other capabilities.
Norland Construction brings engineering and fit-for-purpose equipment to ensure the highest quality of construction and delivery workmanship of the within the stipulated time frame.
Approximately 100 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created, and this is likely to increase during project execution, for the benefit of the East London community.
Norland Construction director Jarl Heurlin said they were looking forward to serving the community of East London with clean, pure drinking water, adding that he would be the first person to taste the water.
“I’ve been working in South Africa since 1994 working with big dams and on underground water tunnels. But my journey with desalination started eight years ago, where we put together the first solar-powered desalination plant in Africa, in a small community called Witsand in the Western Cape,” Heurlin said.
“So we are grateful to TNPA for trusting us and to all the provincial and local authorities for trusting us with this very important key project.”
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