Altitec to set up a new company in Cape Town

Altitec, the turbine blade access and repair specialist, has opened the doors on Altitec South Africa. This comes after last year’s signing of a joint venture with Obelisk, a provider of infrastructure services to the global renewable energy, telecommunications and power markets.

The new company, based in Cape Town, will deliver turbine rotor blade inspection and repair services across Sub-Saharan Africa. It will also offer certified training courses to help new technicians enter the industry.

The South African wind energy market has continued to grow rapidly in recent years. It now comprises 19 operational wind farms with a total nameplate capacity of 1.5GW.

According to Tom Dyffort, Altitec Managing Director, Wind power has great potential to become a significant part of South Africa’s energy mix.

Despite recent delays in signing the Window 4 PPAs, the market is expected to see significant medium- to long-term growth in its installed capacity. As markets across Sub-Saharan Africa expand the number of wind turbines and rotor blades increase. Therefore, high quality blade repair and maintenance programmes will be key to ensuring this energy source delivers reliably.

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“Leading up to the launch of Altitec South Africa, we have a strong relationship with Obelisk. This has seen us benefit from their experience and understanding of the local market to support our Europe-based turbine blade technicians as they serviced wind energy contracts for our clients in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the wind industry grows and matures across the region, this work will need to be delivered by local teams. Altitec South Africa will ensure our clients can benefit from local expertise and experience,” says Dyffort.

Local Altitec Team

The local entity will take advantage of Obelisk’s experience in the wind turbine service industry. This will support three Altitec-trained rotor blade technician teams to deliver services directly from their new South African base.

The joint venture will allow Altitec to deliver services to clients in the region more efficiently. This is particularly during the high season for repairs between January and April.“Since we first started working with Altitec we have continually been impressed by their knowledge and expertise. Their ability to continuously raise the bar for rotor blade inspection and repair has also been of great assistance. We are excited to further strengthen our relationship with them and together start Altitec South Africa. Altitec’s vast technical expertise on rotor blade services, and experience of Obelisk in the Sub-Saharan Market, will allow us to provide high quality services to our clients,” says Riccardo Buehler, Managing Director, Obelisk Energy.