ENEO

In Africa, high average temperatures combined with damp ground conditions and regular rainfall create the ideal conditions for wood decay and termite attack. Typically, decay rates can be up to five times greater than those seen in Northern Europe and North America. Even highly effective wood preservative such as CCA and creosote may only give an 8 to 15-year lifespan, significantly impacting pole maintenance and replacement costs. At Eneo, the pole material of choice is a Eucalyptus hardwood with a water-based copper preservative treatment.

Severe ground conditions across the country meant that the average pole life was only 6-8 years with a pole replacement rate of approximately 60,000 poles per year.

As a result, the significant financial burden of pole replacement costs was one of the driving factors for Eneo to seek out alternative infrastructure options.

Safety for Eneo employees, contractors and the community is the number one priority for the business and rigorous due diligence processes identified a need to improve Eneo’s safety record. The company’s distribution network relies on thousands of miles of wooden transmission poles, many of them of poor quality, so they are especially subject to decay and termite attack in Cameroon’s tropical climate. This presented a hazard to local communities and caused power loss to Eneo, reducing the quality of service and increasing the cost of electricity to customers.

To resolve these challenges, Polesaver proposed a comprehensive review of Eneo’s pole installation processes to fully understand their specific pain points and installation challenges.

Following this assessment, Polesaver provided industry best practice installation guidance and documentation to support proposed new procedures. In conjunction with the patented Polesaver sleeves, Eneo’s utility network would benefit from a substantial extension of the life of their poles with an expected life of 40 years or more whilst protecting the quality of service to its customers and significantly improving employee and community safety.

More than 100 Eneo team members completed Polesaver application training over multiple days, across both the Douala and Bafoussam network sites.

The purpose of the training was to demonstrate the correct method of applying a Polesaver sleeve to wooden utility poles. The team were given a practical demonstration of Polesaver sleeve application and during the course of the training, each delegate was given the opportunity to apply several sleeves to poles. Following training and assessment, staff were issued with certificates of competency for the correct application of sleeves

Polesaver has played a strong and active role in the implementation of a first-class solution for Eneo, leveraging the power of their product’s robust and innovative technical credentials and working side-by-side with Eneo to introduce industry best practice standards. By dealing with the key challenges faced by the business, the Polesaver solution has improved Eneo’s service network and enhanced the company’s own efficiency.

Through the implementation of the Polesaver sleeve solution, Polesaver brought an innovative solution to the business that now delivers both improved community and employee safety, improved network reliability, and significant cost savings of $12 million/year (over time).

The improved safety and reliability and reduced pole maintenance and replacement costs realised by using Polesaver sleeves also, in turn, sees a significant reduction to Eneo’s environmental impact from their network maintenance. A considerable benefit as many countries look to meet global climate change targets.

Polesaver CEO Richard George commented, “Our sleeves are the only proven and independently tested product on the market that ensures pole strength is maintained over time at the critical ground-line section, and we’re proud to partner with Eneo to improve safety and deliver grid reliability for the people of Cameroon.”

To learn more about how Polesaver can benefit your utility get in touch with us today