Mexico City, Mexico, September 22, 2022 – Manchester City’s global charity initiative, Cityzens Giving, and Official Water Technology Partner, Xylem, are delighted to announce the expansion of Xylem Water Heroes Academy, a global initiative in ten cities using the power of football to tackle local water challenges.

Since its launch in 2021, Xylem Water Heroes Academy has engaged over 75 young leaders and delivered vital water education to more than 6,000 young people in five cities: São Paulo, Mumbai, Cape Town, New York City and Shanghai. The expanded network, which now also comprises youth-led projects in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Cape Coast, Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne, aims to positively impact 20,000 more young people over the next four years.

To mark the launch, Pablo Zabaleta and the Premier League Trophy visited the El Coyolito neighbourhood in Mexico City to meet Cityzens Giving Young Leaders who are using the power of football to solve local water issues.

Despite heavy flooding and rainfall, Mexico City is facing a water shortage. More than 20 million residents do not have enough water to drink for nearly half the yearand one in five people have access to only a few hours of running water from their taps a week.

This project will see Young Leaders from love.fútbol use specially adapted football games to educate young people in the community on responsible water consumption, as well as the importance of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Zabaleta took part in a youth-led football and water festival and engaged in a Q&A session with young participants, before learning a traditional Mexican dance.

Reflecting on his visit, Zabaleta said: “Meeting the Young Leaders in Mexico City was an amazing experience. The way they are using football to teach children about the importance of water is creative and inspiring, and it’s great to see this unique initiative from Cityzens Giving and Xylem expanding to more cities. The Young Leaders are so engaged with supporting their community and to be able to contribute in a small way was a privilege.”

As part of the activity in the country, Young Leaders, Xylem employees and fans from Manchester City’s Official Supporters Club in Mexico City also joined forces to repaint the El Coyolito pitch and create a water-themed mural.

In addition, City in the Community coaches delivered training to 40 Young Leaders in Mexico City, sharing expertise and knowledge in leadership, community football and WASH. This was followed by a three-day digital Summit, connecting Young Leaders and Xylem experts from all ten cities to share ideas on tackling water challenges through football.

“Climate change continues to threaten water availability in communities across the globe,” said Austin Alexander, Vice President, Sustainability and Social Impact at Xylem. “Xylem Water Heroes Academy harnesses the power of football and young leaders to address these water challenges and make our communities more resilient.”

Valeria, a Young Leader with love.fútbol said: “We want all the children here to be aware that responsible water consumption is very important, and they must take care of it. We received training from Man City coaches and learnt several games that teach kids about water conservation through football. We are really happy and thankful that Man City and Pablo Zabaleta visited our community.”

Later this season, City fans will have a chance to learn more about the five new Water Heroes Academy projects and vote for their favourite young water heroes.

ENDS

Caption: Pablo Zabaleta poses with Young Leaders and The Premier League Trophy at Deportivo El Coyolito in Mexico City (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

Olivia Murray

Senior Account Manager, Corporate

office: +353 (1) 5921330• mobile: +353 (85) 118 2288 • @edelmanireland

Edelman Block 2, Harcourt Centre, Harcourt Street. Dublin 2, D02 DX37

www.edelman.ie

PRCA Agency of the Year 2020, 2021 & 2022

In the wake of the flooding and landslides that happened in KwaZulu-Natal in April and May 2022, 448 people were left dead and more than 40 000 displaced, with damage to roads, schools, water infrastructure and businesses.

On 18 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster. As repairs got underway, one of the first issues many flooded businesses faced was to get rid of the water and debris in their factories or warehouse premises. The Werner Pumps rental unit, a combination jetting and vacuum truck, was put to good use to help with the clean-up operations.

“We rented our unit to two companies for several weeks at a time to assist them in servicing their clients’ in Durban and the surrounding areas after the horrific flooding,” says Sebastian Werner, Managing Director at Werner Pumps. “It’s the first time that the unit has been used for disaster recovery efforts after flooding. It was good to be able to help in some way by sending the combination truck from our head offices in Springs down to our KwaZulu-Natal clients to help. It must have done a good job because one of the companies has now ordered one from us to assist with their ongoing pollution control and industrial clean-up operations.”

The rental unit is a combination truck that offers state-of-the-art hydraulically operated jetting and vacuum functionality. It’s available through Werner Water Recycling, the rental division (founded in 2013) of Werner Pumps, the leading manufacturer of high-pressure jetting equipment in South Africa.

Known as the Impi Unit, it offers a tilting 12.500 litre, 304 stainless steel tank, with a hydraulically-driven high-pressure pump capacity of 295L/Min at 135bar, and a vacuum pump with 1700 m3/hr suction capability. The high-pressure pump is fitted with a pneumatically operated regulating valve, making infinite pressure adjustment possible, thus increasing the safety of the operator during use.

“It’s ideal for everything from sewer and stormwater cleaning and maintenance, to sludge and slurry removal, separator cleaning, contaminated liquid recovery, recovering solids, and cleaning surfaces,” says Werner. “In the wake of a disaster, it can be used to clean up standing water or to clean smoke-damaged facilities. We’ve found there’s demand for the unit from municipalities and contractors to bridge a gap when they’re waiting on a unit, or for budget to become available, and for people who need it for a specific time-bound application.”

Ultimately, Werner says, the company would like to build up its rental fleet to service the growing demand. “When something happens and someone urgently needs a truck, as was the case with the flooding, we want to be able to send them one immediately,” he says. “Our aim has always to be a one-stop shop, and to ensure our customers are able keep operating at all times, so we’re finding ways to help them do that.”

Senegal’s domestic gas reserves will be mainly used to produce electricity. Authorities expect that domestic gas infrastructure projects will come online between 2025 and 2026, provided there is no delay. The monetization of these significant energy resources is at the basis of the government’s new gas-to-power ambitions.

In this context, the global technology group Wärtsilä conducted in-depth studies that analyse the economic impact of the various gas-to-power strategies available to Senegal. Two very different technologies are competing to meet the country’s gas-to-power ambitions: Combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) and Gas engines (ICE).

These studies have revealed very significant system cost differences between the two main gas-to-power technologies the country is currently considering. Contrary to prevailing beliefs, gas engines are in fact much better suited than combined cycle gas turbines to harness power from Senegal’s new gas resources cost-effectively, the study reveals. Total cost differences between the two technologies could reach as much as 480 million USD until 2035 depending on scenarios.

Two competing and very different technologies
The state-of-the-art energy mix models developed by Wärtsilä, which builds customised energy scenarios to identify the cost optimal way to deliver new generation capacity for a specific country, shows that ICE and CCGT technologies present significant cost differences for the gas-to-power newbuild program running to 2035.

Although these two technologies are equally proven and reliable, they are very different in terms of the profiles in which they can operate. CCGT is a technology that has been developed for the interconnected European electricity markets, where it can function at 90% load factor at all times. On the other hand, flexible ICE technology can operate efficiently in all operating profiles, and seamlessly adapt itself to any other generation technologies that will make up the country’s energy mix.

In particular our study reveals that when operating in an electricity network of limited size such as Senegal’s 1GW national grid, relying on CCGTs to significantly expand the network capacity would be extremely costly in all possible scenarios.

Cost differences between the technologies are explained by a number of factors. First of all, hot climates negatively impact the output of gas turbines more than it does that of gas engines.

Secondly, thanks to Senegal’s anticipated access to cheap domestic gas, the operating costs become less impactful than the investment costs. In other words, because low gas prices decrease operating costs, it is financially sound for the country to rely on ICE power plants, which are less expensive to build.

Technology modularity also plays a key role. Senegal is expected to require an extra 60-80 MW of generation capacity each year to be able to meet the increasing demand. This is much lower than the capacity of typical CCGTs plants which averages 300-400 MW that must be built in one go, leading to unnecessary expenditure. Engine power plants, on the other hand, are modular, which means they can be built exactly as and when the country needs them, and further extended when required.

The numbers at play are significant. The model shows that If Senegal chooses to favour CCGT plants at the expense of ICE-gas, it will lead to as much as 240 million dollars of extra cost for the system by 2035. The cost difference between the technologies can even increase to 350 million USD in favor of ICE technology if Senegal also chooses to build new renewable energy capacity within the next decade.

Risk-managing potential gas infrastructure delays
The development of gas infrastructure is a complex and lengthy endeavour. Program delays are not uncommon, causing gas supply disruptions that will have a huge financial impact on the operation of CCGT plants.

Nigeria knows something about that. Only last year, significant gas supply issues have caused shutdowns at some of the country’s largest gas turbine power plants. Because Gas turbines operate on a continuous combustion process, they require a constant supply of gas and a stable dispatched load to generate consistent power output. If the supply is disrupted, shutdowns occur, putting a great strain on the overall system. ICE-Gas plants on the other hand, are designed to adjust their operational profile over time and increase system flexibility. Because of their flexible operating profile, they were able to maintain a much higher level of availability

The study took a deep dive to analyse the financial impact of 2 years delay in the gas infrastructure program. It demonstrates that if the country decides to invest into gas engines, the cost of gas delay would be 550 million dollars, whereas a system dominated by CCGTs would lead to a staggering 770 million dollars in extra cost.

Whichever way you look at it, new ICE-Gas generation capacity will minimize the total cost of electricity in Senegal in all possible scenarios. If Senegal is to meet electricity demand growth in a cost-optimal way, at least 300 MW of new ICE-Gas capacity will be required by 2026.

There was clear recognition in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Speech delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday of the extensive damage caused to state-owned entities during years of corruption and mismanagement, and which are now having severe negative consequences for the entire economy. He also announced progress in designing a framework for the evaluation of the continued existence of state-owned enterprises.

Strict conditions would apply to the future funding provided to Transnet, Eskom, Denel and other state-owned entities, a decision strongly endorsed by the Minerals Council, which has noted the enormous amounts of money injected into government companies with very little to show for it.

The gross tax revenue overrun for the 2022/23 financial year was revised upward by R83.5 billion, with the financial, manufacturing and mining sector royalties providing improved corporate income tax.

A R2.9 billion cash injection for Transnet to return idled locomotives to service and a further R2.9 billion to repair flood damage in eThekwini will address two areas of concern within the rail and ports state-owned company. Transnet has said it has a backlog in maintenance of 300 locomotives.

However, the Minerals Council remains concerned that there was no mention of Richards Bay, which is a major bottleneck for exports of chrome, ferrochrome and magnetite along with other exported and imported products. Transnet is lagging behind rail delivery targets for bulk minerals. The Minerals Council estimates an opportunity cost of R50 billion for the industry this year when actual deliveries are measured against target. In 2021, the industry lost R35 billion using the same metric.

The Minerals Council is disappointed that there is still no firm government decision to increase private-sector access to Transnet’s rail and port infrastructure, particularly on the bulk mineral export corridors, outside the limited access the Government has already earmarked. Private sector participation in rail and port infrastructure is key to unlocking an estimated R151 billion of mineral exports.

Minister Godongwana said the Government would take between a third and two thirds of electricity monopoly Eskom’s R400 billion debt under strict conditions and an independent review of Eskom’s coal-fired power plants. This will give Eskom increased flexibility to be unbundled into its three constituent parts and to focus on plant maintenance of its aged fleet of power plants and capital investment which is vital because of the continued disruptions to electricity supply for the country.

The R3.4 billion allocated to Denel, the state-owned military equipment maker, is important for the mining industry because the company supplies critical chemicals needed for security and explosives used in blasting. Its stabilisation is critical for sustainable mining operations.

A doubling of government infrastructure spending to R112.5 billion by 2025/26 to rehabilitate and build new roads, bridges, and other infrastructure is important for economic growth and should address the average annual contraction in gross fixed capital formation of 4% between 2016 and 2020 from the R796 billion peak in 2015.

It is disappointing that government is resolute to increase carbon taxes steeply after 2023, as announced earlier. However, a paper on tax-free allocations to be published in 2023 is eagerly awaited, as mining, which is a low carbon emitter, will simply experience higher tax costs without being able to cut emissions much further. Most self-generation projects will entail renewable energy sources though. Mining companies have a pipeline of 6.5GW of renewable energy projects worth more than R100 billion to reduce their reliance on Eskom’s carbon-heavy electricity supply.

Government’s strong resolve to fund increased policing and security to curb crime, is strongly supported. The mining sector suffers from the disruptions of public infrastructure theft, criminals attacking the transportation routes for exports and mining installations, as well as the prevalence of illegal mining.

Drilling to date has demonstrated the presence of mineralisation over a strike extent of at least 1.8km, trending northeast-southwest along the A1 Dome. Importantly, the mineralisation intersected in the approximately 200m spaced drilling completed to date remains open to the north-east, and up and down-dip.

The copper-silver mineralisation at A1 is interpreted to be hosted in a thrust-related vein system, located near-surface at the centre of a periclinal anticline within the D’Kar Formation, a similar geological setting to the T3 and A4 Deposits.

Richard Holmes Sandfire’s Executive, Growth said: “Our dominant land position in the Kalahari Copper-belt is beginning to demonstrate its pedigree with the discovery of the A1 mineral system. Our patient approach to exploration, with the collection of regional scale datasets and their integration into a holistic exploration model, is delivering positive results. While the A1 system is still emerging and more drilling is required to understand its potential, it’s pleasing to have success so close to our existing infrastructure, with the Motheo Copper Mine only 20km away. Our current project generation work is delivering a pipeline of targets within sight of the headframe, which we will be testing over the coming months.”

Highlights

• Extensive structurally controlled copper-silver mineralisation outlined over a 1.8km strike length at the A1 Dome, 20km from the new Motheo Copper Mine.
• The mineralisation has been drilled on ~200m spacings to date and remains open to the northeast along strike, as well as up- and down-dip.
• The recent drilling success at A1 demonstrates the substantial exploration potential of Sandfire’s Kalahari Copper Belt landholding, where it is developing an extensive pipeline of exploration opportunities within haulage distance of the new Motheo Production Hub.
• Further work expected at A1 following completion of the current program includes testing of a potential ~4km strike extension of the mineralised horizon to the north-east and drilling to test the potential for deeper NPF contact-style mineralisation.
• Sandfire continues to collect high-quality geophysical data to further develop its understanding of the basin architecture in the Kalahari Copper Belt and incorporate these learnings into the Company’s regional exploration model.
• A major Airborne Gravity/Gradiometry (AGG) survey across Sandfire’s 26,000km2 tenement holding in the Kalahari Copper Belt is set to commence during the December Quarter of FY2023.

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, launched its new name at a business reception in Johannesburg and reaffirmed its commitment to invest to accelerate South Africa’s economic dynamism. BII will deploy its patient long-term capital toward scaling climate finance and expanding the country’s clean energy capacity, increasing investments into economic transforming sectors, and backing productive and inclusive opportunities across the country.

Nick O’Donohoe, chief executive of BII, co-hosted the event alongside Adam Bye, Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa. Addressing the business leaders, key local stakeholders, ministers and BII partners in attendance, O’Donohoe highlighted the DFI’s special relationship with South Africa and reiterated BII’s ambition to align its investment strategy to help solve pressing challenges in South Africa including urgently delivering reliable clean energy. 

In 2021, BII’s portfolio in South Africa was valued at over $142-million. Having significantly scaled its investments into clean energy infrastructure in 2022, the DFI’s commitment today now stands at over $520-million.

These latest investments include BII’s partnership alongside Standard Bank and H1 Holdings in three Kenhardt projects under South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). The projects represent Africa’s largest and South Africa’s first baseload renewable energy project, powered entirely by renewable sources. BII also invested in H1 Holding, a South African black-owned and managed renewables investment and development company –supporting the development of additional c. 2.4 GW of gross renewable capacity in the country.  

British High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, said: “I am delighted that BII are making such a strong commitment to enhancing their presence and impact in South Africa. I particularly welcome BII’s focus on investments that will help to build South African businesses, and create more economic opportunities for people and communities that urgently need them. This is a vital part of the partnership between South Africa and the UK in key sectors like renewable energy, healthcare and infrastructure. These are critical to helping South Africa achieve its ambitions to create inclusive economic growth, and to deliver a Just Energy Transition through investment in a green, sustainable and job creating economy.”

O’Donohoe also highlighted BII’s investment focus on helping to reduce inequality in South Africa. The DFI’s recent investment in Lona Foods is increasing productive and inclusive economic opportunities for low-income workers – particularly women. BII backed Summit Fund, a black-owned and managed private equity fund that is investing in underserved areas, and the DFI’s commitment to H1 Capital marked its first direct investment in a Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBEE) company in South Africa.

Commenting on BII’s future ambitions in the country, CEO Nick O’Donohoe said: “BII will continue to partner with key players whose work help to promote inclusive opportunities and stimulate productive and sustainable growth.”

BII first invested in South Africa in 1995 when it backed a 440 km motorway between Witbank and Maputo – the N4 road and toll plazas. Today, its investments in South Africa supports over 49,000 jobs in over 42 businesses and 26 investment funds. 

BII’s additional investment activities in South Africa include:

• Delivering clean power to South Africa’s grid through:
  • Globeleq, a BII majority-owned company and one of South Africa’s leading independent renewable energy providers 
  • Gridworks, a BII-owned electricity transmission and distribution platform
  • ACWA Power’s Redstone Concentrated Solar Power Project – a project using pioneering energy storage technology to help increase South Africa’s renewable energy supply.
• Investing $18.5 million in TymeBank – a digital banking group, to support the creation and launch of a new partnership channel and credit products that will increase services to under-served populations.
• Backing Liquid Telecom with a $220 million investment in 2019 to improve access to affordable and high-quality internet and accelerate the company’s Cape-to-Cairo fibre network connection.
• Partnering with South Africa’s Vodacom Group in the Global Partnership for Ethiopia consortium to improve access to affordable and high-quality internet in Ethiopia, and expand productivity and social inclusion across the country.

The DFI has an office in Johannesburg, which is led by Thithi-Kuhlase-Maseko, Head of Office and Coverage Director for South Africa.

The adoption of multi screw pumps has increased exponentially over the past half-decade, with the consumption volume rising from 146,000 units in 2015 to 202,000 units in 2022. Antonio Castilhos, vice president of national sales, Netzsch Pumps North America, explains what is driving this growth.

This rapid rise has been fueled by a number of factors, including major growth in the industries of end users, such as power generation, food and beverage, and chemical and petrochemicals. Other reasons include the modernization of the water and wastewater industries, the use of these pumps in hydraulic fracturing, and the sustained rise of urbanization and industrialization in the developing world.

In addition to increasing demand, there is also a growing awareness and understanding of the advantages of multi screw pump technology. Indeed, these technologies have benefited from significant improvements, including new designs and the ability to machine within tighter tolerances. Specialized products have also become available with varying levels of performance for a range of specific applications.

The advantages of multi screw pumps

Multi screw pumps provide a wide range of advantages across their various applications. First, these pumps are distinguished by their energy and operating efficiency, leading to significant reductions in energy cost and cost of maintenance. Specifically, Netzsch NOTOS multi screw pumps lead to 23.3% more efficiency when compared to other pumps on the market.

These pumps can also handle a wide range of media, including incompressible and highly-viscous products. This includes product that is abrasive, aggressive, corrosive, shear-sensitive, solids laden, low or high viscosity, and lubricating or non-lubricating.

High pressure and leak free, the performance of multi screw pumps is consistently high level. They handle the conveyed product gently and smoothly, also reducing the noise of the process. Because they are entirely made of metal, multi screw pumps can also tolerate high temperatures, easily withstanding temperatures above 572° Fahrenheit / 300° Celsius.

Multi screw pumps are also hygienic by design, making them ideal for applications in near-sterile environments, such as in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. These pumps are quite easy to clean because they are made of stainless steel and are rigorously polished, such that a pumped product cannot stick to the surfaces. This hygienic design allows for effective cleaning-in-place (CIP) and sterilization-in-place (SIP) processes.

How multi screw pumps work

The working principle of multi screw pumps is inherent in the manner by which their interlocking screws move the product. These pumps function via a drive spindle that transmits torque to multiple rotating, intermeshing spindles. As these screws rotate, the chambers move continuously from the suction side to the pressure side, effectively conveying the product. This operating principle is what drives the smooth and gentle pumping and high performance of screw pumps.

The importance of precision machining in manufacturing multi screw pumps

Precision machining is imperative for modern manufacturing. It ensures effective and smooth production, reduces costs and errors, increases efficiency, and demonstrates top quality. Using the High Efficiency Unique Design (HEUD) concept, NOTOS multi screw pumps are crafted to achieve precise tolerances and an optimized spindle profile, ensuring long service life and low life cycle costs. Moreover, the pumps have no axial forces acting on the ball bearing, as they are hydraulically balanced. This subjects the bearings to significantly less stress, minimizing the maintenance required for the pump.

Types of multi screw pumps

Multi screw pumps are available in two screw, three screw, and four screw varieties, each is particularly suitable for a specific set of industry applications. These pumps are the preferred choice of industries including oil and gas, maritime and shipping, power generation, process industries, tank farms, and petrochemicals.

A two screw pump, the NOTOS 2NS has one drive screw that transfers torque to the rotating intermeshing driven screw via a hydrodynamic film. These pumps are ideal for liquids with a range of qualities, from non-abrasive to slightly abrasive, corrosive and non-corrosive, as well as low to highly lubricating mediums. The NOTOS 2NS in particular is distinguished by its long service life when conveying non-abrasive to slightly abrasive product.

Three screw pumps are designed with two rotating, intermeshing driven screws. Three screw pumps are effective at conveying non-abrasive and non-corrosive product, in addition to liquids with low to medium viscosity. The NOTOS 3NS is a three screw pump that is lightweight and universally applicable with its small footprint, suitable for applications across industry verticals.

Four screw pumps, or geared twin screw pumps, such as the NOTOS 4NS, have two shafts and four screws. Here, torque is transmitted to the driven shaft by way of helical gears. Being hydraulically balanced, this design prevents metal to metal contact between single screws, reducing maintenance by considerable degrees and minimizing turbulence. These pumps are used widely across industries, achieving universal applicability.

Why multi screw pumps are made for modern industry

The positive displacement pump with the highest flow rate, multi screw pumps are ideal for myriad applications across modern industry. The rise of urbanization and industrialization in the developing parts of the world and the increased use of hydraulic fracturing are all factors that account for the increased use of multi screw pumps.

Moreover, these pumps provide immense value in many of the most technologically advanced endeavors in the world, including large scale scientific experiments such as space simulation chambers, gravitational wave detectors, and ultra-high vacuum chambers.

While multi screw pumps play a pivotal role in modern industry, Netzsch has been a leading manufacturer of these pumps for decades, having produced these pumps since 1979. Their use of the most advanced technology, combined with their decades-long depth of experience, enables Netzsch to craft pumps with the highest levels of reliability and durability.