@bridogSouth Africa has been a long term target, and Fluence have a strong partnership with MEB.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-fluence-first-aspira-project-in-south-africa.5542979/https://www.meb.sg/post/kwamashu-wastewater-works-south-africa
They also did the 10,000 m3/d Richards Bay installation back around 2015/2016 with then RWL Water.
https://www.meb.sg/post/richards-bay-south-africaHowever, South Africa seems like a terrible place to do business, with too much corruption and money issues.
During the Day Zero emergency tenders, Henry Charrabe and Fluence were absolutely screwed by getting told they were preferred bidder on an approx. $30 million dollar fast build Nirobox contract, and Fluence in the background had ramped up production to meet this, before the local government ran out of money and couldn't go through with it. It cost Henry a lot of reputation and probably set Fluence back as a company around 6 months and cost them couple million, in that they really stocked up heavily on long lead parts and used an additional contract builder in (Spain?) to add to production. While they were able to sell the Niroboxes over the next 12 months, it left a really bad taste. Also some of the other contracts that were awarded ended in legal action, as there were both money issues, and issues with the info provided by the government about the quality of the feed water, pollution issues in the sea caused clogging and extra expense to treat the water, while led to a cancellation of the contract.
https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/desalination-plant-battle-city-of-cape-town-hits-back-asks-court-to-dismiss-r50m-lawsuit-20190821@lilac has also pointed out the MEB went to court against the Ndlambe Municipality and QFS, over the corrupt awarding of a $100 million rand (US $7m) contract. The court even found that the tender process was improper, but in the end there was no action taken against the Ndlambe Municipality and Rolly Dumezweni, and QFS still got the contract in the end.
https://www.talkofthetown.co.za/2021/04/01/more-legal-costs-for-ndlambe/http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAECGHC/2020/70.htmlhttp://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAECGHC/2020/30.htmlhttps://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/disputed-tender-leaves-residents-of-eastern-cape-municipality-facing-water-crisis-fa4325b9-7607-451f-9461-d959c290a219https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/talk-of-the-town/20200910/281487868760387Seems like they also had some contractor fight issues afterwards as well.
https://ndlambe.gov.za/web/media-statement-17-june-2021-port-alfred-2ml-seawater-ro-plant-commissioning/Seems like QFS also end up in court a lot (co-incidence????)
It adds up to danger, I'd only want to go into SA with MEB getting cash guaranteed up front before Fluence provided any equipment, or with some large Chinese multinationals, who SA would be worried about screwing over. Too many corruption and contract issues over there, not enough scrutiny. There is certainly opportunity there though if you avoid the pitfalls.
