Electromechanical equipment manufacturer Actom High Voltage has secured a contract to supply and deliver high-voltage equipment for the Selebi-Phikwe solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, which is currently under construction in Botswana.

The company will provide equipment for the first 60 MW phase of the plant. The 120 MW solar PV facility is being developed by the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and renewable energy company Scatec.

“The scope of our contract is to supply and deliver the full range of 220 kV high-voltage equipment for the grid connection scope of the project, where power generated by the solar farm will be stepped up and fed into BPC’s electricity network,” says Actom High Voltage Equipment divisional CEO Casbah Zwane.

“This is a key project for Actom High Voltage Equipment since it exposes us to more opportunities to expand our export markets. We are most known as a South African company with a very strong local focus, but, as part of Actom’s growth strategy, we have strong intentions to grow outside of South African borders and even beyond Southern Africa,” he adds.

Actom High Voltage will be sourcing the equipment for the project from its technology partners in Spain, India and China, as this voltage equipment is not manufactured locally. The manufacturing of these components has already started and is expected to be delivered to the project by the end of September.

“By relying on our global technology partners, we have shown that we can diversify our supply chain to meet the demands of the current energy environment. We have the capacity to deliver via a diverse supply chain network and manufacturing options, as we are not just limited to our factories in South Africa,” Zwane says.

Its ability to supply these components within the project’s very tight timeframes helped the company to secure the contract.

Further, once the first phase is complete, Actom is confident that it will also secure a similar contract for the second phase of the project, which will see the installation of the remaining 60 MW capacity at the solar farm.

“Becoming part of Scatec’s supply chain definitely gives us access to opportunities beyond South Africa’s borders and on the African continent as a whole, given Scatec’s significant footprint.”