MURRAY & ROBERTS POWER & ENERGY

Key learnings and lessons extracted from working on some of the world’s largest and most complex coal-fired power stations, combined with an expanding skills base and finely tuned knowledge and systems has positioned Murray & Roberts Power & Energy to take advantage of future growth in the power market.

If one takes into account the fact that more than 600 million people, or roughly 70% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity, one can appreciate the scale of the opportunity.

While growth is its target, Murray & Roberts Power & Energy has worked hard over the period to further embed world-class skills, training and safety throughout projects.

“We have a leading global player in our new Power Programme Director, Michiel Korthals Altes, who is responsible for both Kusile and Medupi. Korthals Altes brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the team,” says Steve Harrison, Managing Director of Power & Energy.

“Our employee relations model, the SPQCP programme has been successfully entrenched at Kusile and we are seeing excellent results. Unpacking the programme with all employees, and allowing them to understand and meet its goals and targets has not only produced a more collaborative and inclusive approach to overall employee relations but also to safety. Kusile has achieved a significant 7 million man hours without an LTI, a true reflection of the whole team’s commitment,” says Harrison. The programme is currently being rolled out at Medupi.

One of the big highlights for the Power team was the synchronisation of Medupi Unit 6 in March this year. Unit 6 contributes 800 MW into the South African national grid. Hydro
testing took place on Kusile’s Unit 1 reheater on 17th May, the superheater on 14th June and Medupi Unit 5 reheater on 14th June. The hydro test is a major milestone in the construction of the boilers and involves raising the pressure of the water inside the boiler to a staggering 445 bar to check integrity of all welds.

In terms of future prospects, the Power & Energy team is currently working in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Ghana and has significantly raised its profile as a top EPC provider and is working on securing EPC and construction work in the IPP and energy space.

The Platform sees the REIPP Programme (specifically Concentrated Solar Power) and Base Load Coal as the key drivers for growth, followed by Co-Gen and Gas2Power. The area of operations, repair and maintenance in the Power sector is also a growth opportunity primarily through the JV with Worley Parsons – MWES.

MURRAY & ROBERTS WATER

Murray & Roberts Water has consolidated its offering to focus on three core areas for growth: industrial waste water treatment, desalination and acid mine drainage.

A significant advantage for Murray & Roberts Water was its acquisition of water technology company Aquamarine. This partnership allows the consolidated team to operate in a unique market that supplies modular water plants that are scalable and adaptable to suit from small to large scale industrial plants, and everything in between.

“Historically, Aquamarine has turned down opportunities to participate in larger projects, as the owners did not want to take on such big risk – this is where Murray & Roberts Water can add additional value and capacity,” says Harry Singleton, Operations Executive for Murray & Roberts Water.

The integrated working relationship combined with Aquamarine’s networks in Africa has led to the award of a contract to supply trailer mounted water treatment plants to Lake Victoria North Water Services Board in Kenya as well as projects in Mozambique, Ghana, Namibia and Zambia.

The team, which also includes a collaboration with Hyflux of Singapore for its desalination and waste water management, has its sights on expanding business throughout the continent.