Accéntuate mulls off-grid solutions to mitigate power risks
The Accéntuate group is investigating off-grid solutions, such as solar power, in response to Eskom’s power supply woes, rather than finding a solution to load-shedding, says CEO Fred Platt.
He says off-grid solutions are cheaper and could pay for themselves 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 leads to seven hours of downtime at the Accéntuate group’s flooring factory, explains Platt. Production output during this period also has to be scrapped, as the company uses a continuous heat-driven process.
Accéntuate serves the construction, chemicals, infrastructure development and water treatment markets in South Africa.
Platt does not quantify the impact of load-shedding on the company in rand terms.
Apart from impacting on the production process, load-shedding also sees management becoming despondent, he adds.
“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 questions why big multinational companies, such as Mercedes-Benz South Africa, which has its plant in East London, faces no load-shedding.
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