(Company Annoucement) Since being established in late 2013 as an African subsidiary of the greater Weir Ynfiniti Engineering Services business, Weir YES Africa is gearing up to participate in local renewable energy projects.

Its offering comprises the provision of specialist mechanical and installation services on wind turbine projects, the operation and maintenance of wind farms with an availability guarantee of 98% to 99% and the inspection and repair of turbine blades, towers and nacelles. A number of tenders have already been submitted and Weir YES Africa director, Hloni Ledwaba says he is confident that the first projects will be awarded before year end.

Based in Spain, with subsidiaries in Portugal, Italy and the USA, Weir YES was acquired by the Weir Group PLC in 2010 and falls under its Power and Industrial Division. Weir YES Africa, a level 4 BBBEE company, was launched last year to exploit opportunities in the expanding local renewable energy market, with initial emphasis on the wind energy arena.

“South Africa has a high level of renewable energy potential and government has determined a sizeable target to be generated from renewable energy sources to ensure the continued uninterrupted supply of electricity in future years,” Ledwaba says. “Its Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement programme has been introduced to contribute towards this target, at the same time establishing and stimulating a fully-fledged renewable energy industry in South Africa. Major renewable energy projects are starting to come through as a result of this programme.”

The greater Weir YES business is an approved vendor to and has well established relationships with 11 global wind turbine generator OEMs and Weir YES Africa is leveraging these relationships in discussions with the local representatives of these OEMs. Weir YES Africa has access to a pool of more than 200 technicians with a depth of experience in wind turbine generators through the Weir YES organisation. Although it will initially draw on this expertise to transfer skills to the local team, Weir YES Africa is driving towards local technical self-sufficiency as soon as possible.

Weir YES Africa is well positioned to provide cost effective services with an initial focus on the South African market, although it has also identified opportunities in Namibia and Kenya. Ledwaba says the long term view is to focus on serving customers across the entire continent.

“Being able to draw on globally forged skills and tap into relationships with a number of multinational OEMs are real differentiators for us in the local market,” Ledwaba concludes. “In addition, we benefit from being part of the globally recognised Weir brand that stands for reliability and service excellence, underpinned by world class quality and health and safety. The Weir Group is a FTSE 100 company that honours its commitment to projects around the world.”