https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Accéntuate looks at off-grid solutions in answer to Eskom woes

Accéntuate looks at off-grid solutions in answer to Eskom woes

Photo by Duane Daws

28th September 2015

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

Font size: - +

The Accéntuate group was investigating off-grid solutions, such as solar power, in answer to Eskom’s power supply woes, rather than finding a solution to load-shedding, said CEO Fred Platt on Monday as he announced the group’s year-end results in Johannesburg.

He said off-grid solutions were cheaper, and could pay for itself over a period of time.

“We have done the technical models and we are now looking at the financial models.”

Earlier this year, Accéntuate faced a situation where its East London flooring plant, employing 160 people, experienced load-shedding three to four times a week.

Two hours of load-shedding led to seven hours of downtime at the Accéntuate group’s flooring factory, explained Platt. Production output during this period also had to be scrapped, as the company used a continuous, heat-driven process.

Accéntuate served the construction, chemicals, infrastructure development and water treatment markets in South Africa.

Platt did not quantify the impact of load-shedding on the company in rand terms.

Apart from having an effect on the production process, load-shedding also saw management become despondent, he added.

“We have engaged Eskom and the Buffalo City municipality to find a solution. If it was more predictable, we could manage it better.

“We would [for example] be told we would have no power, so we would short-time our staff. Then, all of a sudden, we would have power, but we would have no staff.


“We were told we could have load-shedding at night, but that raised a number of on-site security and safety risks.”

Platt also questioned why big multinational companies, such as Mercedes-Benz South Africa, which had its plant in East London, faced no load-shedding.

 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
SAIMC (Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control)
SAIMC (Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control)

Education: Consulting with member companies to obtain the optimal benefits from their B-BBEE spending, skills resources as well as B-BBEE points

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.137 0.192s - 175pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now