https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Parastatal achieves significant savings through IDM

17th May 2013

By: Sashnee Moodley

Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

  

Font size: - +

State-owned power utility Eskom, through its Integrated Demand Management (IDM) programmes, achieved total savings of 589 MW, of which 122 MW was in the commercial building sector, for the year ending March 2013, IDM senior GM Andrew Etzinger tells Engineering News.

These savings include projects under- taken by the industrial, commercial and agriculture sectors, but exclude initiatives in the residential sector.

The average demand reduction as a result of the power-alert television messages broadcast across the country during the evening peak period between March 2011 and December 2012 was 382 MW.

Further, Eskom highlights that the IDM programmes in South Africa are implemented in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), and that it spent R5.4-billion on energy efficiency projects between 2010 and 2012.

“Eskom’s IDM department made funding programmes available to its customers to reduce energy consumption, maintain the supply and demand balance on the national electricity grid, ensure a steady flow of energy in support of the growth of the South African economy and keep the lights on for all South Africans in a time of severe energy constraints,” Etzinger states.

Four Funding Models
Eskom offers four rebate programmes – the Standard Product, the Standard Offer, the Energy Services Company (ESCo) model and Performance Contracting – to enable industrial, commercial and agriculture customers to reduce their energy consumption.

He says these four funding models are structured around providing consumers with an incentive for converting their inefficient technologies to energy-saving solutions.

The Standard Product programme is specifically for customers who achieve energy savings greater than 1 kW and more than 2 MWh/y. Funding is capped at R1.875-million for each project and only technologies approved by Eskom will be considered. These technologies include off-the-shelf products, such as energy efficient lighting, solar water heating systems and heat pumps, as well as elec- tricity and water-saving shower heads.

Etzinger says the programme is ideal for farms, retail outlets, shopping centres, guesthouses, bed-and-breakfast establishments, hotels, lodges, factories and residential estates.

A new, streamlined approval process takes less than two weeks from project submission. Businesses themselves, an ESCo or a project developer may under- take the projects on behalf of these enterprises.

The Standard Offer programme provides funding for the implementation of large retrofit projects and electricity savings are expected to range from 50 kW to 5 MW, sustainable over three years. The focus of this project is on electricity use during 16 weekday hours, from 6:00 to 22:00.

Technologies used in this programme include lighting systems, building management systems, hot-water systems and industrial and commercial solar water heating systems.

Small-scale renewable-energy solutions, produced from zero- or low-carbon- source technologies and derived from naturally regenerative or practically inexhaustible resources, were added to the list of energy efficient technologies funded through the Standard Offer programme in 2012.

Introduced in consultation with Nersa as a pilot programme, with the total capacity achieved during this phase limited to 20 MW, small-scale renewable-energy solutions allowed Eskom to further broaden the scope of optimal energy use in South Africa through its range of energy efficiency rebate programmes.

For this purpose, renewable-energy sources included biomass waste, wind energy, geothermal, solar, thermal gradient and ground source heat and municipal solid waste.

Uptake on the pilot programme has been so positive that the total approved 20 MW capacity is now virtually exhausted. Eskom will, therefore, need to bring this phase of the programme to a close. However, all completed proposals submitted by May 2 were still considered.

Eskom will now engage with Nersa on the positive outcome of the pilot programme with a view to receiving permission to continue funding small-scale renewable- energy solutions through the Standard Offer programme.

The ESCo programme offers funding for the implementation of large retrofit projects with potential load savings of 1 MW or more. The programme is aimed at ESCos that specialise in identifying opportunities for achieving reductions in electricity consumption, and that scope and execute projects as a basis for establishing a four-way partnership between Eskom, the business owner, the ESCo and a measurement and verification expert.

The technologies used in this programme include lighting and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, hot-water systems, demand-response systems and compressed-air systems.

In the ESCo programme, Eskom funds up to 100% of the financial benchmark value, depending on the technology used, for verifiable energy efficiency projects.

The Performance Contracting pro- gramme supports verified bulk energy savings across multiple sites and tech- nologies by contracting a single project developer.

The programme was developed to simplify project approval, reduce contractual complexity, improve sustainability and shorten project lead times. The minimum project size should exceed 30 GWh of savings sustainable over three years and the focus is on electricity use during the 16 weekday hours between 6:00 and 22:00.

Etzinger says funding through these programmes promotes a culture of energy efficiency in the commercial, industrial and agriculture sectors and makes it more affordable for businesses to convert to and save by offsetting the capital outlay to implement energy efficient retrofits.

Residential Power-Saving Outreach
Since 2007, 47-million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have been installed in homes nationwide through the IDM’s CFL exchange programme, which Eskom says is the biggest residential energy efficiency roll-out of its kind in the world.

“Eskom’s second large-scale energy efficiency initiative in the residential sector, the Residential Mass Roll-out Campaign, also reduced strain on the national power grid by 188.7 MW by installing a range of free energy effi- cient products in homes across South Africa over 12 months, ending March 2013. “The third phase of this campaign will be announced on Eskom’s website soon, subject to final approval of the relevant governance structure,” adds Etzinger.

Meanwhile, Eskom’s solar water heater rebate programme, implemented in 2008, and its heat pump rebate programme, implemented in 2011, have resulted in more than 325 000 solar heater rebate claims having been received to date, while nearly 8 500 heat pumps have been rebated since 2011.

Etzinger says Eskom has established aggressive goals and targets to support customers in their drive towards efficient energy consumption by creating an understanding among customers that reducing energy demand within industry may require investments in newer technologies, equipment and processes.

“Eskom enables consumers to power their operations by being financially savvy by reducing electricity use, cutting energy costs, countering rising operating costs and improving bottom line earnings by supporting the replacement of energy intensive technologies with energy saving solutions,” he notes.

Programme Benefits
As part of the IDM programmes, Eskom funds a portion of the project cost of energy efficiency retrofits, which enables businesses to recoup their capital investments over a shorter time. Further, energy efficient technologies, processes and systems lead to reduced electricity use, resulting in reduced operating costs and improved bottom line earnings.

Improving energy consumption in a business – as a means of reducing energy costs and lowering operating costs – can be implemented immediately to start improving bottom line earnings, Etzinger says.

“Eskom energy advisers, who are supported by the expertise of suppliers of energy efficient technologies and the ESCos in executing energy saving projects, are on standby to assist businesses in converting to energy efficient technology solutions,” concludes Etzinger.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
John Thompson
John Thompson

John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...

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:0.225 0.296s - 271pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now