Directors' Experience

BioTherm Energy's directors have been involved in the following sectors:

• Power and energy
• Project development
• Carbon consulting
• Clean Development Mechanism
• International project finance

Their collective experience and expertise is highly relevant to the commercial success of BioTherm Energy and is summarised briefly below:

Charles Liebenberg (43) - Managing Director

B Com. (Hons), H.Dip Tax Law, MBA

Following two years in corporate finance and four years as a tax consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Charles spent the next eleven years in project finance with investment banks (eight with Standard Bank Group of which four were at Standard Bank London and three with Investec Bank UK) both as an adviser and investor/lender in Africa and Europe with a primary focus on the power and energy sector. Charles started the project finance business at Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank in 1997 which grew to 12 professionals. He then transferred to Standard Bank London and headed the energy project finance division from 1998 to 2001. He joined Investec Bank (UK) and started the Energy Project Finance Division which he headed until mid 2004 when he returned to South Africa to start BioTherm Energy. He has been involved in range of projects including:

Europe

• 2003/4 - Ireland : Co-developer and mezzanine debt provider for a 400MW CCGT project in county Galway
• 2003/4 - Ireland : &euro11 mio mezzanine lender for a 73MW wind farm
• 2003/4 - UK : Senior lender to a developer of coal mine methane electricity generation projects
• 2003 - UK : Acquisition by Investec Bank (UK) Ltd of an equity interest in ICECAP

Africa

• 1997/8 - Namibia : Financial adviser and debt arranger to NamPower for a US$190 mio 400kV Namibia/South Africa interconnector
• 1997 - South Africa : Adviser to Electricite de France on the proposed acquisition of three mothballed coal fired power stations in South Africa
• 2000/2001 - Ghana : Adviser to Volta River Authority on the development and financing of the West African Gas Pipeline being developed by a Shell/Chevron consortium
• 2000/2001- South Africa : Adviser to Cinergy Global Power on the successful US$ 20 mio acquisition of Egoli gas
• 1999/2000 Tanzania : Adviser to Cinergy Global Power on the proposed acquisition of the 100MW IPTL power plant
• 1998/1999 - Zambia : Advised Midlands Electricity Board and National Grid Company on the successful US$ 200 mio acquisition of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines power division
• 1999 - Mali : Adviser and arranger for Rolls Royce for the construction of a US$ 15 mio inside-the-fence diesel fired IPP at the Morila gold mine
• 1999 - South Africa : Adviser to a consortium led by ABB for the proposed acquisition and refurbishment of Pretoria West Power station
• 2000 - Mauritius : Adviser and arranger for a diesel-fired CHP project, integrated with a sugar refinery

  Martin Kruse (39) - Technical Director

B Eng, Pr Eng – registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of SA, M.Com (Business Management)

Martin is an engineer specialising in the energy sector.  In addition to performing energy audits in several industries, his strengths are identifying and conceptualising projects in:

• Energy Efficiency
• Clean Development Mechanism
• Emission Reductions.

As a project engineer, he has successfully managed multi-disciplinary teams in arriving at cost effective energy generation and efficiency initiatives.  Martin has designed, built and commissioned many energy related projects including:

• Large scale thermal solar plants
• Demand control initiatives
• Energy efficiency projects ranging from electricity, steam and waste heat utilization
• Biomass and waste to energy projects
• Combined heat and power

Martin commenced his career as an engineer in infrastructure management and proceeded into commercial property development.  In the late 1990’s he worked in the banking sector developing new products and managing subsidiary companies.  He then entered the energy market with distribution and marketing of liquid fuels and associated products. In the past six years, he has developed several projects in the energy sector as investor and principle developer.

  Johan van den Berg (44) - Business Development Director and Legal Counsel

B Com LLB LLM

Johan practised at the Cape Bar as an advocate from 1993-2002, specialising in Environmental law and Environmental Dispute Resolution. During the year 2000 he moved fulltime into climate change work. In 2001/2002 he completed a certificate course in the Mathematical Modelling of Financial Derivates at the University of South Africa and in April 2002 left the bar to become head of the Energy Desk at Commodity Trading House in Stellenbosch. In November 2002 he was retained by UNEP&rsquos Collaborating Centre on Energy and the Environment to write a Legal Background Paper on the CDM in Developing Countries. Johan has also done work for the World Bank. He founded CDM Africa in mid-2003 as a specialised advisor to CDM project developers. The company is presently advising on projects in seven African countries. Johan is legal advisor to the Darling National Windfarm and the African Wind Energy Association, an internationally accredited mediator, an Associate Fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies in London and a registered trader of the South African Futures Exchange.

Werner Engelbrecht
Development Director BioTherm

(39) BEng. Electrical and Electronic Pr Eng

Werner’s experience in the electricity and power sector includes:

• Eskom - Tutuka Power station - a unit controller, responsible for one 612MW boiler and turbo-generator unit operation
• Eskom - Majuba Power station – 5 years as electrical engineer, undertaking project management, writing the specifications and issuing the enquiries to the final construction and commissioning of the plant
• Sappi Ngodwana – 3 ½ years as a Senior Electrical Engineer with the responsibilities of a Project Engineer, Design Engineer or Plant Owners Representative for all Electrical and Automation integration projects, in the Energy and Services and Chemical Sections.  Projects that  have been completed successfully were,  PF Boiler FSSS I/O card replacement, 132 kV Breaker replacement, Primary Power Protection Relay upgrade,  Turbo Generator (TG) 1 & 2 Bentley Nevada Conditioning monitoring System upgrade, 525 V Load Centre Breaker replacement, CRF1 and Evaps1 MCC upgrade, CRF1 and EVAPS1 DCS upgrade, CRF1 ID Fan VSD  upgrade, PF Boiler ID and FD LCI Drive retrofit, PF Boiler DCS replacement, TG 1& 2 control and protection upgrade, ERP1 electrical plant pre-engineering and TG1 inspection.
• Eskom 2006/7 - Grootvlei Power Station re-commissioning (6 units, 1200 MWW coal fired power station) as the Design Team Leader for the design, clarification and design freeze of LV & MV switchgear, generator protection, excitation control system and measurement and metering system and interface design to the DCS and perform all electrical cable designs.  The power station was commissioned in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and mothballed in 1989.  The design is for the installation of new DCS and electrical plant for the return to service of the power station. 

Elzette Gaigher (40) Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility

B Com Law, B.Com (Hons) Economics, H.Dip Tax Law

Following a career in tax at KPMG, Elzette worked for Investec Bank (UK) in London for 10 years, the past 4 as head of legal and documentary risk. She was responsible for the legal and commercial evaluation of the bank's participation in private bank lending and equity investments and assured ongoing compliance with the regulatory requirements of the bank's business. During a year as a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Elzette concluded a thesis in poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development and she provides the commercial interface between BioTherm Energy and the development projects the company facilitates.