THE CASE FOR LOCAL

PRODUCTION OF
FIBREGLASS UTILITY
POLES IN ZAMBIA

A presentation to ZESCO by Torus

Engineering & Construction
Distribution Power Poles-Problem
Statement

❏ Our understanding of the current situation is that ZESCO has an enormous backlog of electric power
poles for distribution
❏ ZESCO currently relies on mostly imports of wooden power poles for new installations and
maintaining existing connections
❏ Wooden poles entail import, local distribution of heavy material composed of biomass and water
❏ Wooden poles suffer from a relatively shorter lifespan which entails expensive replacements and
maintenance costs
❏ Wooden poles have a high biomass and moisture content which contribute to high transportation and
handling costs
❏ Wooden poles cannot be produced on demand. Their availability depends on forest plantation
conditions. There is an ongoing risk of supply disruption
❏ To sum up wooden poles pose problems of supply insecurity, foreign currency pressure and
inefficiencies in logistics, installation and maintenance
Introduction to Fibre Power Poles

❏ Fibre Power Poles otherwise known as Fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) or composite
power poles are made from a polymer resin matrix infused with glass fibres.
Introduction to Fibre Power Poles

❏ The composite poles are manufactured using a process called pultrusion which is just
the production of a constant cross section profile by utilizing resin matrices reinforced
with fibre
Advantages of Fibreglass Poles

❏ Fibre power poles are extremely light weight compared to traditional wood, steel or concrete poles
❏ Many more fibre power poles can be loaded on a delivery truck than wooden, concrete or steel poles
❏ Fibre power poles can be installed in areas with high water table and can also be installed atop
mountain tops unlike wooden or concrete poles
❏ Fibre poles can be lifted with a line truck thereby saving time in handling and installation
❏ Fibre poles have a lifespan of up to 80 years as opposed to wooden pools which may last less than
10 years depending on conditions
❏ Fibre poles require less manpower to install, in some cases only requiring 3 people to install into the
ground
❏ Fibre poles provide the option of a fast track installation because of the ease of production,
transportation, handling and installation
❏ Corrosion resistant and capable of being installed in environment with high acid rain, strong winds etc
❏ Environmentally friendly because of the recyclability of the fiber and resin
❏ Less fatalities in traffic accidents because of the fibre's high impact absorption
Production of fibreglass poles

❏ Ideally required a 5Ha site with optimum location and supply of power
❏ Target an initial 6000/month production of fiber power poles
❏ At minimum would required a site with office, factory, warehouse, connecting roads
and fencing.
❏ Modular design to ensure that factory production capacity can be expanded with
increasing demand
❏ The initial configuration of 6000/month will require an investment of about $10m with
the exact figure invested depending on economic conditions at the time of construction
Technology Partners

❖ Leading Brazilian
❖ Zambian engineering firm
producer of composite
created with a view to
power poles
promoting local
❖ Will be responsible for the
manufacturing
design and construction of
❖ Authorized agent for
the fiber power pole
Technofix
factory including the
❖ Responsible for local
pultrusion circuit
liaison and raising
❖ Exports to the European
capital
Union
The Qualitative Financial Case For Fibre
Power Poles

❏ Fibre Poles have a lifespan of 80 years which is on average four times longer than the
lifespan of wooden poles which results in a lower total cost of ownership for Fibre
Poles compared to wooden poles over the lifespan of the pole
❏ Fibre poles are lightweight which results in lower transportation and installation costs
compared wooden poles resulting in lower service costs
❏ Fibre poles are more resilient to inclement weather, windy conditions, insects and
animals resulting in fewer failures and replacements in comparison to wooden poles.
The lower replacement rates result in further lower service costs over the lifespan of
the pole
Proposed Joint Venture with ZESCO

❏ We propose a joint venture to locally manufacture fibre power poles and resolve the
problems outlined for wooden power poles
❏ Initial capacity to be set at 6000 poles per month and to expand organically to fill
demand after initial setup
❏ It will be imperative that ZESCO be the main offtaker for the plant so created. In short
ZESCO should be able to purchase all the poles from the initial factory configuration
❏ Initial estimates put the plant set up costs at $10m with a payback period of 5 years
❏ Each plant to create about 30 permanent jobs
❏ Plant construction to take 6 months from when the equipment is ordered
Sample Poles
Sample Power Poles
 END

Thank you for attending. We look forward to a mutually

beneficial partnerships