GrahamTek: PSG’s epic bet
• Investment in desalination company pays dividends
Stellenbosch-based investment firm PSG Group has not had to wait long for good news to flow from its newest investment in water desalination company GrahamTek.
Stellenbosch-based investment giant PSG Group has not had to wait long for good news to flow from its newest investment in water desalination company, GrahamTek.
On Tuesday, GrahamTek reported the final sign-off on a locally designed and assembled set of modular sea-water desalination plants set for deployment in Saudi Arabia.
Only last week, PSG confirmed – via subsidiary Energy Partners – an influential investment in GrahamTek for an undisclosed sum. Each of the modular plants can produce 3-million litres of drinkable water a day. GrahamTek CEO Julius Steyn said representatives from Saudi Arabia had been in Cape Town for the past four days for a demonstration of the nonchemical desalination technology — based on the reverse osmosis process — at the company’s plant in the Strand.
It was a big achievement for a local company to apply its technology in the world’s biggest desalination and water treatment hubs, Steyn said.
“We were earlier this year contracted to do consultation and optimisation work on the four largest desalination plants globally. These Saudi Arabian plants produce more than 4-billion litres of water per day.” GrahamTek engineers identified opportunities to reduce the cost of water production by more than 20% and to improve the reliability of the plants in the process, Steyn said.
“Based on the successes achieved, the Saudi Arabian client asked GrahamTek to design a modular desalination plant optimised for their local conditions….”
Steyn said the company was also working on contracts in India and Ghana. Referring to the extended water shortages in Cape Town, Steyn reckoned the experience gained in Saudi Arabia would be very valuable to the rapid deployment that would be required to solve the crisis in a timely manner. “Cape Town has the opportunity to not only provide long-term water security for the region, but also to develop a sustainable water economy with global reach.” He stressed that the capital costs of sea-water desalination plants were substantial. “If financed over the useful life of the plant, however, which is typically 20 years, water can be procured by the city at R12 to R18 per kilolitre, which is comparative to what users pay on average in the city.”
PSG CEO Piet Mouton said Energy Partners remained positive about the opportunity to provide support to the City of Cape Town.
Several tenders had been submitted in the recent tender rounds for “water desalination solutions”.
In August, the City of Cape Town issued its first tender to produce an additional 500million litres of water from desalination plants.
It is expected that the first sea-water desalination plant would be in operation by the end of March 2018.