Engen Petroleum, South Africa's leading fuel company, has signalled its commitment to sustainable energy sources with a pilot solar power installation at the Engen All Africa Convenience Centre, Alexandra in Gauteng.

The implementation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) energy production system on the site is among the first renewable energy initiatives in the retail fuel sector. Joe Mahlo, Engen’s General Manager of Sales & Marketing said that this initiative is in line with the company’s drive to reduce its environmental impact and the national climate change response strategy.

"We believe that it is our duty to reduce our carbon footprint. With the largest network of service stations in the country, we saw it as a good opportunity to further reduce our GHG emissions. South Africa produces most of its electricity by burning coal, so the less power we consume from the grid, the better to protect the environment from harmful emissions, reduce outages and rein in the depletion of natural resources", continued Mahlo.

Perfect for solar
The Engen Engen All Africa building rooftop and canopy were identified for harnessing solar energy.  "These roofs are out in the open and not overshadowed by other buildings or trees, making them an ideal solar PV platform", said Russ Gittleson, CEO of LED lighting and renewable energy specialist Light Kinetics.

Once installed, the solar PV panels are designed to be maintenance free, apart from occasional cleaning. To minimise dust accumulation, the panels are affixed, where possible at a slope, to benefit from the self-cleaning action of seasonal rain.
Adequate supply, great savings

Mahlo confirmed that the entire site’s daytime energy needs will be met by the new solar PV installation — including fuel pumps, LED lighting, chiller machines, coffee machines, refrigeration, ovens, computer systems, compressors and more.

"The idea is to use solar energy during the day and revert to the national grid at night and during inclement weather conditions. This allows us the ability to save energy and to take pressure off the grid. The effective drop in energy consumption on a typical Engen site with the new solar PV system installed is about 80 000 kW/hours per year," he added, “even taking into account varying annual weather conditions.”

Managing supply
The Engen solar PV installations can be grid-tied, allowing the energy generated on site to be remotely managed and, if needed, reallocated elsewhere by feeding excess energy back into the Eskom grid. This has the potential of making Engen’s retail network a “net-zero” energy operation.

Gittleson explained that excess energy from “grid-tied” solar PV solutions can also be redirected to charge on-site batteries, allowing the daytime energy to be stored and used to power Engen’s LED lighting or other systems at night. Unfortunately, feedback into the Eskom grid in Johannesburg is currently not permitted.

Other initiatives
No doubt the project marks the beginning of many similar ventures in Engen's 1060-strong retail network, but the company is no stranger to green efforts and investments, said Mahlo.

“A few years ago, Engen implemented a fuel switch project at the Engen Refinery, from fuel oil to fuel gas, resulting in a significant reduction of our refinery’s carbon footprint.”

Other Engen environmental initiatives already being implemented include solar geysers, heat pumps, whole site conversion to LED lighting as well as planting and landscaping projects to green the environment. Furthermore, Engen is also phasing out its old tanker trucks and replacing them with new more fuel efficient vehicles with a comparatively lower carbon footprint.

To investigate further opportunities and areas of energy efficiency and GHG emission reduction, Engen has signed an agreement with the National Business Initiative (NBI) of South Africa to implement the Private Sector Energy Efficiency (PSEE) project.
Ends.

For more information please contact Gavin Smith, Engen Group Communication Manager,
Gavin.Smith@engenoil.com   Tel: +27 21 403 4312   Cell: +27 82 379 1700