The Cosira Group in full swing for Medupi Power Station’s phase two build
April 2010
The Cosira Group, one of southern Africa’s leading steel fabrication and construction companies, has commenced work on the second phase of the Medupi Power Station. The company’s project scope entails the supply, fabrication, corrosion protection and erection of steelwork, cladding and sheeting for the power station’s Turbine Hall.
“The Cosira Group’s involvement in phase two will be significant: 13 000 tons of steelwork and 36 000 m2 of sheeting and cladding will be used. We aim to complete our portion of the contract by March 2012,” says John da Silva, CEO of the Cosira Group.
More immediately, in April 2010, the first column on turbine hall will be erected. “The project is progressing smoothly,” adds da Silva.
According to Jerry Methi, the Cosira Group’s Senior Project Manager on the Medupi phase two project, the company has forged a strong relationship with its client Actom (formerly known as the Alstom Group). “As there is open communication with the client, any challenges are quickly dealt with,” says Methi.
Methi explains that the Cosira Group was awarded the contract to supply 12 000 tons of steelwork on Medupi phase one in late 2008. When site construction began in 2009, this was the largest single contract awarded to the Cosira Group as well as being the first contract awarded to the Group in the power generation sector.
As per the contract, the Group is supplying the structural steel for the six units of the turbine halls. There is also a crane building and some intermediate platforms under construction and Cosira will be responsible for detailed shop drawings, fabrication, corrosion protection, installation and cladding.
“In total, phase one of the turbine hall project required 12 000 tons of structural steel, with each unit (turbine hall) having approximately 2000 tons. The footprint of each unit is 37m wide and 110m in length. The large components are 10 tons per piece,” says Methi.
“In order to meet the overall construction program, two turbine halls were required to be executed concurrently though in different phases. The constrained working areas also meant that Cosira had to carry out the installation from one side of the building only. The order of installation has run from turbine hall 6 through to 1, with many intermediate handovers to accommodate the overall civil, mechanical and electrical disciplines,” says da Silva.
Cosira are working to a Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery methodology on site, providing steel on-demand as the project progresses. The manufacture and fabrication process will be carried out in phases, with batches of steel erected on a JIT basis.
“Cosira is also using its own developed state-of the-art proprietary software program, called ‘Magellan’, to track and trace the progress on the project, from detailing to fabrication, to corrosion protection and eventual installation on site.
“This will ensure that we have the right quantities available on site at all times. The Cosira Quality Management System (QMS) allows us to handle big plate girder components on the project; as well as to effectively identify and track each and every component back to the factory and the originating mill,” says Methi.
He adds: “Actom and end-customer Eskom have stringent safety standards that must be adhered to on site, and we believe that we are up to meeting their expectations in this regard.
The Cosira Group embraces the goal of Zero Harm in terms of safety, health and environmental issues and strives to go beyond compliance with regulations to achieve our goal of excellence in all that we do and on all projects. Medupi phase two will be no exception to that rule, and we will work tirelessly to ensure this phase of the project is also successfully completed.”