MIDVAAL. – The Midvaal Local Municipality says it has invested R10 million in building an innovative and state-of-the-art fuel depot.

This project will assist in cost-containment measures to reduce the expenditure on refuelling municipal vehicles.

The municipality says it has over 300 vehicles that regularly refuel to service its vast geographical landscape.

Constructing its own depot allows the municipality to purchase fuel at wholesale market value, reducing its fuel bill by 6% to 8% per annum, which is around R2 to R3 million a year.

The fuel depot was upgraded from the previous capacities of 10,000 litres for petrol and 4,800 litres for diesel to the increased capacities of 50,000 litres for diesel and 25,000 litres for petrol.

The newly upgraded fuel depot features smart technology that monitors the quantity of fuel dispensed in real-time.

Each transaction is linked to the respective vehicle and odometer reading.

Midvaal said in a statement that the intention is that misuse and abuse of fuel should be substantially reduced and that theft and misappropriation will also be minimised.

Vehicle tags, driver tags, and fuel tags are linked to ensure that staff behaviour on fuel consumption is monitored.

According to Midvaal an exciting green energy feature has been added to the fuel depot with solar panels installed above the canopy. The energy is stored in batteries that power both the fuel station and the depot offices.

Staying true to its commitment to empowering Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), two local SMMEs were contracted to provide security and ablution services during the upgrade process.

A total of six local people were employed for the project.

The Executive Mayor, Ald Peter Teixeira says: “This upgrade initiative demonstrates Midvaal’s unwavering commitment to cost containment, and ongoing efforts to ensure that every cent is spent wisely. Through the installation of this digital fuel depot innovation and change in our approach will deliver better operational efficiencies.”