Hirundo Lesotho – Mohale’s Hoek Wind farm
Civil Engineer / Infrastructure Consultant Opportunity
Company: Mohale’s Hoek Wind (Pty.) Ltd., Hirundo group of companies (“Hirundo”)
Project: Mohale’s Hoek Wind Farm Project (60 MW) – Lesotho
Subproject: Access roads, intra-farm roads, and crane hardstands planning, engineering design, stakeholder alignment, and bankable cost estimation.
Introduction
Hirundo is advancing the development of the 60 MW Mohale’s Hoek Wind Farm, a landmark renewable energy project in Lesotho that will play a critical role in strengthening sustainable energy infrastructure.
We are seeking an experienced Civil Engineer, Engineering Consultancy Partner, or multidisciplinary team/company to support a key development priority: the planning, design, stakeholder alignment, and bankable costing of the project’s access road, intra-farm road network, and crane hardstands.
Project Objective
By September 2026, Hirundo aims to define a road trajectory and crane hardstands that:
- Secures alignment with all relevant stakeholders, including councils, government authorities, LDF, and local communities
- Supports exceptional and heavy transport requirements for wind turbine components (see details later) from public road infrastructure to the wind turbine locations (see annex)
- Optimizes technical feasibility and overall project costs
- Minimizes social and environmental impacts, including resettlement
- Produces robust, bankable cost estimates for financial planning and investment readiness
Scope of Work
The selected consultant/engineer will contribute to:
- Desktop development and comparative assessment of alternative road trajectories
- Preliminary engineering design for an access road (from public road infrastructure to the mountain ridge), intra-farm roads (connecting wind turbine locations over the mountain ridge), and crane hardstands next to each wind turbine location
- Stakeholder consultations, community engagement meetings and institutional engagements
- Integration of social and environmental considerations in coordination with ESIA and ESMP processes (a social and environmental consultant will be engaged separate, but in parallel to this tender)
- Geotechnical investigations to support feasibility and bankable budgeting
- Cost estimation and engineering recommendations suitable for investor-grade project planning
Qualifications and Desired Expertise
Expertise may be individual consultants, engineering consultancies or multidisciplinary teams with demonstrated experience in transport and infrastructure planning for large-scale projects.
The candidate/team should possess
- Bachelor’s/ master’s degree in civil engineering, infrastructure planning, transport engineering or a related field
- Minimum of 10 years relevant professional experience in road design, transport infrastructure, or civil engineering consultancy (for lead consultant/team lead).
- Proven experience in road design, crane hardstand design, and/or heavy or abnormal transport infrastructure
- Good computer literacy, technical report writing (Reports to Mohale’s Hoek Wind), and communication skills
- Strong understanding of feasibility studies, geotechnical analysis, terrain assessment, and project costing.
- Experience engaging government, community, and regulatory stakeholders
- Familiarity with renewable energy or large-scale infrastructure development is highly advantageous
- Valid registration of company/consultancy and compliance with applicable tax requirements.
- Collaboration with local consultants, engineers, or stakeholders familiar with the Lesotho context will be considered an advantage.
Invitation
We use a two-phase selection process to keep the initial effort low for candidates and manageable for us as the evaluating party.
Phase 1 – Expression of Interest (all applicants)[u1]
To register/express your interest, please submit a brief expression of interest (maximum two pages) covering:
- A short profile of your organization and relevant experience
- One or two comparable projects, highlighting relevance to heavy-transport road design or renewable energy infrastructure
- A brief indication of your proposed approach and availability
Phase 2 – Full Offer (short-listed candidates only)
Short-listed candidates will be invited to submit a complete offer covering:
- Scope and methodology
- Required level of design for bankability
- Detailed deliverables, schedule, and commercial terms
- Budget
This step will only be requested once Hirundo is satisfied of the candidate’s suitability, to respect the effort involved for all parties.
How to Submit
Phase 1 – Expression of Interest
Please send your expression of interest by email to Mosa Sekatle at [email protected] no later than Friday, 19th June 2026, 5pm. Use the subject line “EoI – Mohale’s Hoek Wind Farm – Civil Engineer”. Submissions should not exceed two pages.
Phase 2 – Full Offer
Short-listed candidates will receive a direct invitation with a full request for proposal, including format requirements, evaluation criteria, and a submission deadline. Hirundo will aim to issue these invitations within two weeks of the Phase 1 closing date.
Site Visit
Post Phase 1, a site visit to the proposed project area in Mohale’s Hoek will be arranged as part of the selection process to allow interested candidates to familiarize themselves with the terrain, existing access conditions, and logistical considerations associated with the project.
Further details and coordination arrangements will be communicated to interested applicants.
Supporting Information
To support preliminary technical assessment and understanding of the project context a KMZ file showing wind turbine locations and construction areas, thereby giving an impression of the project site area & terrain context, can be found in annex. Applicants are encouraged to review the spatial information as part of preparing their Expression of Interest submission.
The proposed road concepts and engineering recommendations should be developed with consideration of applicable road, transport, environmental, and abnormal load requirements relevant to construction and operational phases of the project. Indicative of the road requirements, these reference specifications and requirements for the roads and crane hardstands can be shared (to be updated by the wind turbine vendors closer to execution of this design project):
- Load capacity and road strength: Roads must support a maximum axle load of 15 tons and meet strength criteria of Ev2 ≥ 100 MN/m² with an Ev2/Ev1 ratio ≤ 2.3, verified by a static plate load test according to DIN 18134 or equivalent standards.
- Road geometry and dimensions: Ideal average slope should be 10% or less, with a maximum peak slope of 20% and lateral downhill slope under 2%. Vertical crest and valley radii must be at least 400 meters, with height differences over 30 meters not exceeding 0.30 meters. Drivable surface width is 4.5 meters with a clearance width of 6 meters and a minimum outer curve radius of 72 meters.
- Road structure and maintenance: Road layers may be composed of gravel, broken bricks, or concrete. All layers and subsoil must be compacted for heavy trucks. Proper drainage with cross slopes of 1-2% and water transport systems must prevent erosion and landslides. Roads and crane hard standing areas must maintain load capacity and accessibility in all weather during construction.
Crane hardstand specifications: A crane hardstand is required for construction and heavy maintenance with a maximum load capacity of 250 kN/m², zero inclination, and minimum dimensions of 40m length by 35m width. The crane hardstand should be constructed within the construction areas as specified in the KMZ file in annex.