Turnkey photovoltaic (PV) systems supplier GPtech and electrical engineering group CBI-Electric have signed an agreement with the object of manufacturing and selling GPtech’s equipment in South Africa to supply the country’s future PV projects.

The arrangement allows both companies to assist in the carrying out of the policies government put forward in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010 by offering their services to those of their customers that participate in the IRP2010-enchancing Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

As a result, both companies aim to form a new corporation which will cover, on the one hand, the manufacture, marketing and sale of GPtech-designed PV inverters and power-integrated stations and, on the other. the marketing and sale of hybrid generation plants, which offer complete solutions for power generation – with the integration of two or more primary energy sources – and energy storage systems.

Meanwhile, the business alliance will also guarantee an after-sales service in South Africa to cover all customer needs. This assistance will be characterised by solving design or manufacturing defects during the period of warranty, the development of periodical PV inverters and PV plants’ maintenance programmes, a spare parts service and other require-ments.

These activities will start at the end of the second quarter of 2013 and will initially be located in Boksburg, to the east of Johannesburg.

With the finalisation of this agreement, GPtech and CBI-Electric seek to operate in the South African PV grid integration market and expect to market their products and services in most of sub-Saharan Africa, including in the Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia or Zimbabwe.

The alliance falls within the ambit of the South African-government-endorsed IRP2010, which calls for the entry of new independent power producers (IPPs).

Meanwhile, government has imposed a series of legal requirements and technical specifications in accordance with economic policy and development, which foreign companies have to fulfil to participate in the tender processes of the REIPPPP.

Economic policy and development tackle job creation and broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) requirements, such as ownership, management control and preferential procurement, as well as enterprise development, socioeconomic development and local content.

The GPtech and CBI-Electric partner-ship, on finalisation, will guarantee a minimum BBBEE rating of Level 4, as well as the fulfilment of local content stipulations for the initial roll-out of their activities to comply with the South African government’s demands.