Kentz Group, the Irish-Malaysian international engineering contractors, which is listed on London's AIM market, today announced that it has been awarded a contract in excess of Rands 1.75 billion (US$250 million) for the procurement, fabrication and site installation of the air-cooled condensers and associated equipment on the new Medupi Power Station in the Limpopo Province.

The agreement between Germany-based GEA Energy Technology Division through its South African subsidiary GEA Aircooled Systems (Pty) Ltd and Kentz was reached following Kentz’ support to GEA during the bidding process. Alstom is in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction of the six turbine islands.

The Medupi project, which is a greenfield 6 x 740MW coal fired power station, forms part of a US$12 billion investment programme by Eskom, the South African power supply and utility group, which will span six years. GEA’s responsibility includes the turnkey delivery of the overall technology package for the air-cooled condensing system.

The Kentz workscope includes the procurement, detailing, shop fabrication and installation of approximately 36,000 tonnes of steel structure and platework, 40,000 tonnes of mechanical equipment and 1,800 tonnes of piping over a four and half year period.

Kentz has been operating in South Africa for almost 30 years as an engineering and construction group offering a wide variety of services across the Southern African region, and is structured to take advantage of growth in the petrochemical, mining and power sectors over the foreseeable future.

Dr. Hugh O’Donnell, Chief Executive Officer of Kentz Group, said: “We are delighted that GEA has chosen Kentz as its partner for this prestigious project. This is a major opportunity for our Company to be involved in the rapidly expanding power sector in South Africa. We look forward to working with the GEA team and to demonstrating our energy services expertise on this venture.”