70 Megawatt Power Unit maintenance contract awarded to mtu South Africa

• Largest temporary power solution in Southern Africa
• Power plant will ensure reliable electricity supply to consumers and industrial customers in Botswana

Friedrichshafen/Cape Town, 8 December 2009. The Tognum Group company MTU South Africa (Pty) Ltd has been selected by global power provider, APR Energy, to provide maintenance management and spare parts supply for its first power plant in Southern Africa. The 70 MW/11 kV power plant powered by mtu Series 2000 diesel engines will be located outside Francistown in Eastern Botswana and run by APR’s customer, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).
„mtu was successful in demonstrating its ability to achieve high availability rates in excess of 99 %, by perfect maintenance, even under difficult circumstances. This led us to take them on board for the management of our maintenance,” says APR’s Vice President, Lee Munro.
As the largest temporary power solution of its kind in Southern Africa, the power plant will ensure reliable electricity supply to consumers and industrial customers in Botswana. It will also supply power to the regional primary power grid of Botswana and Southern Africa. mtu SA will play a vital role in managing all maintenance activities on the plant and ensure availability of spare parts and consumables.
"We are glad to be granted this opportunity and we will make sure that both APR and BPC are satisfied with our services and products. Our partnership with APR will provide support to Botswana with an additional reliable supply of electrical power," says mtu South Africa’s Managing Director, Michael Baumann.
According to the BPC, a national electrical utility in Botswana, the additional 70 MW of power was needed to counteract electrical shortages driven by supply constraints in the Southern Africa region. “The use of mtu engines for such a critical project is the best choice we could have made because of their most economic fuel consumption in comparison to their competitors in the field of high speed diesel engines,” says Munro.