Solar PV, Energy Storage & Grid Interconnection Consulting Engineering Services
– For Utility-scale, Industrial, and Micro/Off-grid Projects
1- INTRODUCTION
Established in 2015, Zero Point Energy (Pty) Ltd is a proudly South African sustainable engineering company that continues to provide unique and valuable engineering consulting services in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, grid interconnections, energy storage, off-grid and backup power to Southern African public and private clients across the utility-scale, industrial, commercial and agri-sectors.
2- VALUE PROPOSITION
The engineering and project management team members at Zero Point Energy have a combined 18 years of professional experience in the solar PV industry, and over 30 years collective experience in the electrical generation and distribution sectors.
We are strategically structured and geared to offer our clients industry-leading engineering consulting expertise, at competitive rates and in a manner that forms long-lasting dependable relationships.
Further, Zero Point Energy and its team hold the following accreditations:
- 2x Professional Electrical Engineers (Pr.Eng) registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) with a collective 25 years of electrical engineering & project management experience in the power generation, distribution and energy sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 1x Certified Energy Manager (CEM) international accreditation with the international Association of Energy Engineers
- ISO-9001 aligned Quality Management System (QMS) – certification outstanding
- Level 1 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE L1) Certification
- Member of the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA)
- Green Star Accredited Professional with Green Building Council of South Africa
- Registered and approved on the South African Government Central Supplier Database (CSD) for electrical engineering services
3- CURRENT & RECENT CLIENTS
Some of our valued clients that Zero Point Energy has completed or currently executing solar PV and/or battery storage design & engineering services for:
- Pele Green Energy (2018-current) – http://www.pelegreenenergy.com/
- Power Matla Renewables (2018-current) – http://www.powermatla.com
- Distributed Power Africa (2018-current) – https://www.dpaafrica.com/
- Solar Reserve SA (2016-current) – https://www.solarreserve.com/en/
- Sonfin (2015-current) – http://sonfin.co.za/
4- ENGINEERING TEAM SOLAR PV TRACK-RECORD
| Project Description | Project Capacity | Year | Role | Responsibilities |
| South African REIPPPP Round 4 IPP | 458 MWp –
Preferred bidder to Financial Close phase |
2015-2018 | Manager of Commercial EPC Operations and BD Design & Engineering | Management of engineering design team & deliverables; EPC RFQ development, execution and evaluation; management of external technical consultants; project scheduling; EPC costing strategy, Eskom & Nersa liaison |
| South African REIPPPP Expedited Bid Round (4.5) IPP | 602 MWp bid development & submission | 2015-2016 | Manager of Commercial EPC Operations and BD Design & Engineering | Management of engineering design team; management of external technical consultants; Technical bid development; bid review and submission |
| Various sub-Saharan African solar PV project opportunities | 500 MWp | 2013-2017 | Lead Electrical Engineer | Technical due diligence studies; solar resource assessments; engineering & design reviews; grid assessments; risk reviews; fatal flaw analysis, contractor engagement |
| 11x South African agribusiness PV projects | 4100 kWp total (largest 999kWp) | 2016-2018 | Lead solar PV engineers, Project directors | System configuration; layout, table & string design; electrical BOP design (DC, AC, grid tie-in) |
| Various hybrid diesel-PV projects | 50 kWp – 10 MWp each | 2013-2016 | Design Engineer | Financial modelling, feasibility studies, high level design |
| Various PV+battery storage projects | 3kWp– 100kWp + 5-200kWhr storage | 2016-2018 | Electrical Engineering Consultant | Feasibility studies, preliminary design, system optimisation, system costing |
| Various residential PV systems | >300 kWp | 2013-2016 | Lead Engineer | Financial modelling, detailed design |
| Department of Energy | 400 kWp | 2013 | Technical Engineer for mounting structure | Technical assistance, project management |
5- PERSONNEL AND ENGINEERING DESIGN RESOURCES
PERSONNEL:
- 2x Senior Professional Electrical Engineers (Pr.Eng)
- 1x Project Electrical Engineer (Greenstar Professional + CEM accredited)
- 1x Junior Electrical Engineer
- 1x Junior Electrical Technologist
- 2x CAD draftsmen
- 1x Administrator
AVAILABLE DESIGN & ENGINEERING SOFTWARE:
- PVSyst Professional – Utility-scale global standard for PV simulation studies
- PVSol Premium – Leading PV & battery storage design software for industrial, commercial & off-grid PV/storage projects with 3D building simulation capability
- Helioscope –Web-based PV design software to quickly design solar systems & simulate their efficiency.
- DigSilent PowerFactory – Leading electrical power system simulation software
- Autocad / Microstation – Professional development of engineering drawings
- PLS-CADD – Is one of the most powerful overhead power line design programs on the market
- Homer Pro – microgrid software that is the global standard for optimizing microgrid design in all sectors, from village power and island systems
- Homer Grid – economic optimization of behind-the-meter hybrid distributed energy resources ideal for designing, sizing and assessing optimal solar PV + storage + generator micro-grids for both rural and commercial applications
- Microsoft Visio – Generate professional process flow diagrams, organograms, etc
- Microsoft Projects – Generate professional Gantt charts & project schedules & resource plans
OTHER INTERNAL RESOURCES:
- ZAR2 000 000 Professional Indemnity engineering insurance
- Single & three-phase energy data loggers
- Energy analyser (kWhr, PF, kVAr)
- Personal Protective equipment (PPE)
6- SOLAR PV + BATTERY STORAGE ENGINEERING SERVICES
- Solar PV Yield simulation studies (PVSyst, PVSol or HelioScope)
- Battery integration & yield simulations (PVSol)
- 25 Year generation forecasts (P90/P50) including recommendations on site-specific/ equipment losses/availability and/or client-specified values
- Preliminary designs to determine:
- Suitable number of modules and inverters
- Suitable single-axis tracker blocks
- Suitable fixed-tilt angle (for fixed-tilt options)
- Suitable pitch/spacing distance rows for shading considerations
- Suitable table size & string sizes
- Suitable strings per inverter MPPT input(s)
- Suitable number of rows per tracker block (tracker option)
- Suitable placement of inverter & battery blocks
- Suitable location of substation, O&M buildings, internal roads, etc
- Solar PV plant layout CAD drawings in AutoCAD or Microstation software
- General arrangement drawings
- AC & DC Cable routing
- Equipment location (modules, tables, inverters, transformers, etc)
- Site perimeter fencing
- access point (to be communicated by client)
- Security and guard house
- Access, peripheral and internal roads
- Substation and control room buildings
- O&M building location
- Exclusion zones (if any provided by Client)
- Inverter station locations
- Fixed-tilt / Tracker mounting structure blocks
- Calculation of total road length and area
- Calculation of total perimeter distance
- Calculation of total PV footprint area
- Calculation of total number of modules
- Calculation of total number of strings
- Calculation of total number of modules per string
- Calculation of Plant DC, AC & storage capacity
- Bill of Quantities (BOQs)
- Key equipment selection:
- Review and recommendation on PV module technology
- Review and recommendation on mounting/structure technology
- Review and recommendation on inverter technology
- Review and recommendation on battery inverter/charge controller/ MPPT technology
- Review and recommendation on communication & monitoring technology
- Review and recommendation on transformer selection
- Review and recommendation on battery storage technology (if required)
- Preliminary single line diagrams (SLDs) showing:
- DC stringing and combiner box level detail
- AC inverter integration and transformer detail
- MV integration level
7- ELECTRICAL INTERCONNECTION ENGINEERING SERVICES:
Power Plant Medium Voltage Electrical Engineering Services:
- Review national standards and Grid Codes and align designs with country/region specific requirements
- Analysis of client-provided existing electrical network information
- Propose interconnection routes & tie-ins based on available GIS transmission line and substation database information
- MV Electrical Collector Network Design:
- MV Cabling Philosophy
- MV Switchgear Ratings
- LV/MW transformer ratings and philosophy
- MV Substation Layout Design Philosophy
- Substation Earthing Philosophy
- Protection Philosophies
- AC & DC Systems Philosophy
- Metering Systems Philosophy
- Substation Automation and Control Philosophy
- Substation Single Line Diagram drawing
- Substation Layout drawing
- Substation Building General Arrangement drawing
- Substation Earthing Layout drawing
- Substation Lighting and Small Power Layout drawing
- Bill of quantities
IPP Substation and Utility Switching Station Engineering Services:
- Feeders bays design philosophy
- Transformer bays design philosophy
- Bus bar feeders design philosophy
- Protection schemes
- Tele-control philosophy
- AC/DC Module design philosophy
- SCADA design philosophy
- Earthmat design philosophy
- Lighting design philosophy
- Lightning protection design philosophy
- Civil design philosophy
- Drawings
- Electrical single line diagrams.
- Substation general arrangement
- Substation sectional view
- Control building drawing
- Lightning protection and drawing
- Bill of qualities
- Overhead Line Design:
- PLSCAD modelling of the line
- Line profile sheets, sag and tension tables.
- Preliminary line design specification
- Line bill of quantities
11kV up to 132kV Utility Substation Integration:
The feasibility design outputs will also include the feeder bay specifications required at the utility substation. The outcomes will include the following:
- Protection schemes
- AC/DC supply design
- BOQ
- Bill of quantities
- Feeder bay general arrangement
- Feeder bay single line diagram
Electrical Simulation Systems Modelling and Analysis
- Model network up to 132kV utility tie-in simulated and analysed in DigSilent Power Factory software
- Load flow and short circuit analysis and estimate of system losses
- Preliminary stability studies to gauge practicality of interconnection at tie-in point
8- TECHNICAL ADVISORY & PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
- Development of project schedules for design and EPC process (MS Office)
- Eskom/ Municipal Cost Estimate Letters & Budget Quote applications
- Development of total PV plant Bill of Quantities
- Utility-scale and Industrial/Commercial-scale financial models and modelling capabilities to assess project-financed PPAs, solar leases or upfront sales
- Technical Due diligence of existing opportunities & 3rd party proposals
- Development of technical RFP packs for EPC tender purposes
- NERSA generation license application technical inputs
- Development of preliminary EPC cost estimates based on industry pricing and technology selection
9- CONTACT INFORMATION
- Email: info@zpenergy.co.za
- Office: 52 Richmond Avenue, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Tel: +27605218388 or +27721500467
- Website: zpenergy.co.za
- Social media: @zeropointSA
- CIPC: 2015/176778/07
