Lesedi Bulk Fuel Terminal, South Africa

Delivering a digitally engineered bulk fuel terminal with human-centric design and community impact.

Client

Royal Vopak

Project date

Appointed in 2016

In 2016, Royal Vopak, a Dutch multinational company, appointed Zutari to conduct financial and schedule due diligence for a bulk fuel terminal in Heidelberg, Gauteng. The project involved constructing a co-mingled storage facility comprising four 20,000 m³ tanks and two 10,000 m³ tanks, along with road tanker dispatching infrastructure and re-injection capabilities into the Transnet Pipelines (TPL) inland network via the Inland Terminal (TM2).

The opportunity

The development of the Lesedi Bulk Fuel Terminal was a strategic investment to enhance fuel storage and distribution capacity in Gauteng. The challenge lay in coordinating two distinct project sites, an active brownfields site and a fast-moving greenfields site, while minimising disruption to surrounding communities and ensuring seamless integration with existing infrastructure.

What we did

Zutari provided comprehensive services throughout the project lifecycle:

Due Diligence: Conducted financial and schedule assessments to support project feasibility.

Owner’s Engineer & IMT Role: Acted as managing contractor and owner’s engineer, supporting project execution and stakeholder coordination.

Site Management & Supervision: Oversaw construction activities across both the bulk fuel terminal and Transnet’s TM2 property.

Digital Engineering & VR Design: Used virtual reality to involve client teams in the design process, enabling clash detection and operational input.

Human-Centric Design: Ensured the final design reflected operational needs and best practices.

Community Engagement: Created 350 local jobs and supported upskilling and infrastructure upgrades through social investment programmes.

Designed in a virtual reality environment, the Lesedi Bulk Fuel Terminal reflects operational insight and community-focused engineering.

The outcome

The project was completed towards the end of 2020, delivering a state-of-the-art bulk fuel terminal that supports regional fuel distribution and reinjection into the national pipeline network. Zutari’s use of digital engineering and community engagement ensured a successful, future-ready facility that benefits both the client and the surrounding communities.

The Lesedi Bulk Fuel Terminal project exemplifies how digital innovation and stakeholder collaboration can deliver infrastructure that is efficient, sustainable, and socially impactful. Zutari’s integrated approach ensured a resilient and responsive solution for South Africa’s downstream fuel sector.

Zutari is proud to have been involved in this project from inception to commissioning. The use of digital engineering enabled us to create a human-centric design that will benefit the client for many years to come.

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What we did

The outcome

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