Germans reignite the old Babcock Borsig Power (BBP) Steinmüller

a leading german engineering group, which plunged into insolvency a year ago, is back on its feet in streamlined form and more vigorous than ever, engineering news online can today exclusively report.

formerly known in south africa as babcock borsig power (bbp) steinmüller, the company will, as of october 1, be known as steinmüller service south africa and headed by md hermann brümmer.

successful negotiations with new investors will see the business shift its focus from the supply and erection of boilers for power plants, to the provision of continual maintenance and services at existing power stations.

however, the company will continue to provide entirely new power plant systems from within the overall german-based group should opportunities to do so arise.

but because there are fewer new plants being constructed in south africa, the focus of the local operation will be on the entire life of plant, as opposed “greenfields” projects.

the aim of the restructured business is to provide ongoing services in the form of improved plant availability and reduced maintenance costs, while modifying plants to emit lower emissions.

steinmüller service south africa is held by babcock borsig power holdings, and incorporates intervalve and eduardo construction – each of which now have black economic empowerment (bee) credentials – and steinmüller construction and ebs training academy, which will provide the crucial human resources for the new service-intensive steinmüller service south africa.

bee company torre technologies owns 30% of steinmüller construction, e-komani energy services 50% of intervalve, and david khumalo 10% of eduardo construction.

torre technologies executive director moso bolopo was exiled during the struggle years, enabling him to graduate as a mechanical engineer in the uk.

the umtata-born bolopo has also had significant experience in the field of power generation while working for the state-owned electricity utility, eskom. “we would like black companies such as our own to have a platform to enter mainstream markets, and to have linkages to global research and development systems,” he tells engineering news online in an exclusive interview at the steinmüller service south africa offices in rivonia, near johannesburg.

also present at the interview was german bbp service top brass jürgen wolf and reiner kiechl.

wolf views the insolvency as having been a blessing in disguise by providing the group with an opportunity to sharpen its competitive edge through re-organisation and streamlining of its business processes.

brummer explains that the newly-formed company will inherit r300-million worth of south african business.

a far cry from the bbp steinmüller of old, which owned a large boilermaking operation in chamdor, krugersdorp, and a spanking new head office in sandton, the new steinmüller service south africa owns no south african property at all.

amazingly, though stricken by the insolvency crisis, the south african operation managed to limp along, all the while continuing to supply goods and services to local clients, the most notable being eskom and petrochemicals giant sasol.