The Aggreko/Shanduka cross-border power project, in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique, was named Africa’s Best Fast Track Power Project for 2012 at the Africa Energy Awards.

The award ceremony took place during the gala dinner of the Power and Electricity World Africa conference and exhibition, held from April 8 to 11, in Johannesburg.

Commissioned in July 2012, the Ressano Garcia project is recognised as the world’s first interim cross-border Independent Power Provider project. Using natural gas from Mozambique’s Temane gasfields, the output of the plant is fed directly into the national grid of Mozambique through a purpose-built substation on site.

The project entails the generation and supply of 110 MW of power to Mozambique’s national power utility, Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), and cross-border supply to the South African national power utility, Eskom.

While being a highly innovative project in terms of delivering much-needed power to both countries, the judges were impressed by the fast-track nature of the project.

Commissioning the project, from breaking ground to being fully operational, took less than four months. This included a substantial civil infrastructure programme that entailed the building of access roads, a 1.2 km high-pressure gas pipeline, gas processing and depressurising infrastructure, a major substation and a 1.5 km 275 kV transmission line.

The project is connected to the Southern African Power Pool, which links the power grids of nine Southern African countries. Taking advantage of this exceptional transmission infrastructure and the flexible nature of Aggreko’s power installations, Aggreko announced on March 14, 2013, that it would expand the Ressano Garcia facility to add an additional 122 MW.

This additional power will come on line in the second quarter of 2013 and will be shared between EDM and 1NamPower, the Namibian national power utility. It will bring the total generating capacity of Ressano Garcia to 232 MW.

“To realise a project of this scale and complexity, the global resources of Aggreko were mobilised to project-manage and engineer the installation at Ressano Garcia. This capability, coupled with the expertise of our partnering contractors and customers working together as one team, resulted in the successful delivery of this remarkable project,” said Aggreko global operations and technology director Ron Sams.

“We are thrilled to receive this award in conjunction with our partner, Aggreko,” commented Shanduka Group CEO Phuti Mahanyele.

“Access to sufficient and stable power supplies creates tremendous value for the development of the region. This project also significantly benefits the local population, as it is providing increased employment opportunities, stimulating wider economic activity and, through Shanduka’s Adopt-a-School Foundation, assisting in the development of a local primary school, Escola Primaria Completa De Ressano Garcia,” she adds.

Aggreko Southern and East Africa MD James Shepherd said: “I am delighted that what is indeed a unique and ground-breaking project has been recognised as such by our industry peers. Building a power plant of such size and complexity on a completely greenfield site in less than four months is truly remarkable. This award recognises the vision and hard work of the project team from Aggreko and Shanduka, our customers EDM and Eskom, as well as all the partners that made this project such a resounding success.”