A significant renewable energy initiative in South Africa, the thermos-solar generating plant project, known as the Kathu Solar Park project near Upington in the Northern Cape, is currently underway. Led by client GDF Suez, the project has been implemented with a consortium of partners and in conjunction with the South African Department of Energy (DOE). The solar park’s success, in partnership with Eskom, is set to provide no less than 80 000 South African households with solar energy.
Kathu is a 100 MW plant with parabolic troughs and a thermal energy storage capacity of four and a half hours where excess solar energy can be collected and stored for further use. As such, the project has generated the need for temporary site buildings. Kwikspace Modular Buildings (Kwikspace), is set to deliver temporary facilities which will provide efficient and comfortable site camp accommodation.
The project will comprise numerous site erected and mobile buildings of more than 2,000 m2, using Kwikspace’s high standard polyurethane panels on all the buildings to ensure consistent insulation inside the buildings. The benefit of this particular system is the increased speed of construction where buildings can be erected in just 35 working days. Kwikspace will also supply fencing, external electrical and plumbing reticulation, a weighbridge, a septic tank and electrical generators. The modular buildings will function as offices, access control buildings, ablutions and as a kitchen and diner. Additional services such as a large U-shaped contractor’s office complete with WiFi technology will also be supplied.
The project schedule, initiated in May 2016, was reduced by a month to ensure the contractor and client speedier access to their facilities. The plant is expected to save six million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years and is set to be operational in the second half of 2018.