PV C&I Technician

PV C&I Technician: ENGIE Kathu Operations (Internal/External) JOB DETAILS

Position Title:

PV C&I Technician

Reports to:

Lead Technician – C&I

Department:
Maintenance

Hay Level: HL 17

Location:

Kathu – Northern Cape

ENGIE is a major player in the energy transition, accelerating the shift toward a carbon‑neutral economy across a global portfolio that includes renewable electricity, green gas, batteries, gas and electricity transmission, local energy infrastructures and supply to consumers. With 98,000 employees in 30 countries, the Group covers the entire energy value chain. ENGIE has been present in Africa for over 50 years.

ENGIE’s Global Business Units:

• Renewables & Flex Power – delivering greener and smarter energy through renewable power and flexible solutions.
• Local Energy Infrastructures – supporting customers in achieving significant decarbonisation goals.
• Networks – expanding and adapting power and gas infrastructure for the green transition.
• Supply & Energy Management – leveraging ENGIE’s global assets to deliver secure, sustainable energy.

ENGIE in South Africa:

• 15 years of presence
• First and largest Independent Power Producer (IPP) with >1.6 GW in operation
• 300+ professionals
• Built the first H₂ plant in Africa at Mogalakwena mine
• Founding member of the Hydrogen Valley initiative with Anglo American and the Dept. of Science and Technology
• Operational and safety excellence across all sites
• Growth market for ENGIE

Operational assets in South Africa include:

• Avon & Dedisa Peaking Power (1005 MW OCGT)
• Xina Solar One (100 MW CSP)
• Kathu Solar Park (100 MW CSP)
• Aurora Wind (95 MW Onshore)
• Golden Valley (117 MW Onshore)
• Excelsior (32 MW Onshore)
• Konkoonsies 2 (75 MW Solar PV)
• Aggeneys (40 MW Solar PV)
• MBP (75 MW Solar PV)
• Grootspruit (75 MW Solar PV) – in construction
• Graspan (75 MW Solar PV) – in construction
• OYA Hybrid (333 MW Solar/Wind/BESS) – in construction

For more information:

Kathu Operations is a 100 MW greenfield Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project using parabolic trough technology and a molten‑salt storage system that provides 4.5 h of thermal energy storage, limiting intermittency.

Purpose:

• Apply specialist C&I expertise to support efficient operation and performance of the PV facility.
• Ensure all plant C&I equipment is operated and maintained per OEM manuals, warranties, and regulatory requirements.
• Support real‑time plant monitoring and control through SCADA, facilitating early fault detection and optimisation.
• Plan and record all preventive, corrective, and predictive maintenance in the CMMS (Maximo/SAP).
• Provide accurate C&I performance data for daily, monthly, quarterly, and insurance reporting.
• Assist the DCS/SCADA Engineer in maintaining reliability and timely completion of work notifications.

Main

Activities:

• Enforce HSE and quality policies, ensuring safety measures during all maintenance activities.
• Collaborate with other disciplines to support continuous plant operation.
• Execute C&I maintenance with HSE protocols, PTW, LMRAs, and MV/LV standards.
• Maintain calibration of specialised test instruments (multimeters, loop calibrators, insulation testers, IR cameras, network testers).
• Perform scheduled and corrective maintenance on instrumentation, sensors, inverters, PLCs, RTUs, SCADA interfaces, protection relays, and networks.
• Conduct advanced fault‑finding using diagnostic tools and signal tracing.
• Resolve breakdowns, perform root cause analysis, and replace faulty equipment with minimal energy loss.
• Monitor plant performance on SCADA, analyse alarms, verify data integrity, and coordinate operational adjustments.
• Calibrate instrumentation and validate accuracy against OEM tolerances.
• Provide technical data for operational reporting and incident investigations.
• Train/mentor interns or technical assistants.
• Execute electrical day‑to‑day maintenance per CMMS work orders and planning.
• Assist with maintenance planning, spares forecasting, and scheduling external resources.
• Ensure correct tool use and maintain tool readiness.
• Own plant C&I systems, maintaining optimal condition with minimal downtime.
• Read and interpret drawings, schematics, wiring diagrams, P&IDs, SCADA layouts,…