Page 25 - Energize October 2021

NEWS

Heavy lifting equipment runs on polymer bearings

p and coming dock-levelling manufacturer, REV Designs, lasting abilities. That means that the bearings are able to last as long as
recently completed the design and construction of three the best materials used on the company’s lifting equipment, dock-
Uof the country’s largest scissor lifts ever produced with a levellers and other equipment.
capacity of up to 40 tons per lift.
The Springs-based manufacturer incorporated a host of Growing demand
clever designs to facilitate the heavy-lifting ability of the scissor The success of the bearings in the massive scissor lifts has also buoyed
lifts, which will be used in the saw milling industry. It also Juan-Eric, who says the company’s polymer products are increasingly being
included the latest polymer bearings to enable heavy lifting with used in all kinds of industries and the timber industry is the latest one.
minimal wear and damage for considerably longer service life “We are an international supplier of motion plastics such as
and maintenance intervals. bearings, energy chains to protect cables and hydraulics, as well as
According to REV Designs chief designer and founder, Ricardo speciality cables for different applications. Our motion plastics take
Viljoen, the use of igus high performance polymer bearings ensures things to a different level and usually result in machines and equipment
that the pivot points work smoothly with vastly reduced wear using our products being more effective and long-lasting than those
compared to traditional bearings and the added advantage of not using traditional materials.”
requiring either lubrication nor daily maintenance.
Contact Ian Hewat, igus South Africa, Tel: (011) 312 1848,
Tough environment ihewat@igus.de, www.igus.co.za
“The bearings needed to be very strong to withstand the kind of
forces that are placed on it in this hard-pushed timber processing
environment. The bearings also have a distinct advantage in this kind
of “dirty environment” with potential for the ingress of sawdust,
woodchips and other debris that could snag lesser bearings.
“With this in mind, we chose to work closely with igus’ polymer
bearing specialist, Juan-Eric Davidtz, who was able to match the right
bearings for our requirements. Our design uses 33 bushes per lift and
each one has specific operational requirements,” says Ricardo.
He adds that polymer bearings supplied by igus have become
integral to nearly all new designs due to the bearings’ rugged and long-

Construction of portfolio of six solar PV projects completed

frican Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) recently celebrated the achievement of
Commercial Operation of the last of six solar PV projects awarded under Round 4 of the
ARenewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
The projects, situated in the Northern Cape and North West provinces, form part of a broader
portfolio of renewable assets managed by EIMS Africa.
EIMS Africa is owned by the IDEAS Fund, an AIIM managed fund, and constitutes one of the
largest South African owned renewable energy portfolios in the market and is expected to exceed
1GW of generation capacity by the end of the year.
EIMS Africa was established as an integrated renewable energy company to manage
Renewable Energy Assets that are majority owned by AIIM managed funds. Vuyo Ntoi, Joint
Managing Director of AIIM, says “This is an excellent achievement in difficult circumstances,
and was down to the success of a committed team of professionals, proving the worth of this
integrated management approach to delivering and managing these assets.”
With nine existing projects under management and further projects in the pipeline, this
platform is positioned for growth and is expected to play a leading role in the growth of the
African renewable energy sector.
Sean Friend, Portfolio Manager of the IDEAS Fund, explained, “We are pleased to have in Vuyo Ntoi
place a core team of experts managing a sizeable portfolio of renewable energy investments.
We have great plans to grow the business in terms of number of projects and their geographic deliver better than expected results for our
location and look forward to working with Ryan and his team to make this a reality.’’ shareholders and social partners during the
Ryan Hammond, EIMS Africa CEO, commented ‘’I’m extremely proud of the entire team Covid pandemic. With this great foundation
for this achievement, many of whom have been involved with our earlier projects, since 2011. in place the EIMS Africa team is looking
This milestone marks the end of a three-year plan that included restructuring the management forward to an exciting few years ahead as we
of existing and new projects, more than doubling the size of our team, while continuing to grow the platform’’.

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