| Mon 30 Sep 2002, 12:40 | | 1st Group Limited - Ge Power Systems And Ist Energ |
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1ST GROUP LIMITED - GE POWER SYSTEMS AND IST ENERGY SIGN DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
FOR SUBSTATION CONTROL PRODUCTS
Pretoria, 30 September 2002 - IST Energy, the power engineering division of the
IST group, has concluded an agreement with GE Power Systems to assemble,
integrate, distribute and support GE`s substation control products in Southern
Africa.
In a joint announcement today with GE Power Systems, IST Energy managing
director Dr Herb Chikwanda said the new alliance marked a major advance in IST
Energy`s drive to be an integrator of world-class, product-based solutions for
the protection and automation sectors of the electricity supply industry.
IST Energy is a leading provider of control and protection systems to the
Southern African electrical power sector. It holds a number of Eskom national
contracts for its equipment and has major customers in Namibia, Botswana,
Mozambique and Swaziland.
Under the agreement with GE, IST Energy will phase out its own brand of remote
terminal units (RTUs) in favour of GE products, which it will assemble and
integrate in South Africa. It will, however, continue to supply and support its
own RTUs where required under existing long-term contracts with customers.
"Expanding our presence in African and Middle Eastern markets is an essential
part of IST Energy`s growth strategy," said Chikwanda. "In order to compete
internationally, we must have world-class products and systems. Our existing
RTU range is in the mature phase of its lifecycle and would have required a
major investment in product, support systems and infrastructure to maintain a
competitive edge.We therefore decided that an alignment with a major player such
as GE was the best way of bringing the latest solutions to our markets."
GE Power Systems is one of the world`s leading suppliers of power generation
technology, energy services and management systems with 2001 revenues exceeding
$20 billion. GE Power Systems provides equipment, services and management
solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, distributed power and energy
rental industries.
Issued by du Plessis Associates on behalf of IST Group.
dPA contact: Kathy du Plessis on tel:011-728-4701, fax:011-728 2547, mobile:083
266 5847 or e-mail: ist@dpapr.com
www.istltd.com
For immediate release
For further information, please contact
Dr Herb Chikwanda, IST Energy Managing Director
012-426 7234 (w) or 082 808 5887
Date: 30/09/2002 12:00:00 PM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
