Energy matters
Energy in South Africa and your operation
By AskGareth About Energy
Part 2
The purpose of this article is to share insight on the lesser known facts about the South African energy sector . This is the second of six articles that will build your knowledge and give you decision making power through insight .
In the previous edition , we set the background looking at the key inputs before making an electricity investment decision , i . e . the surrounding environment and options at your disposal .
Thank you for all the questions since the first edition , sent to AskGareth @ energysecurity . co . za . The questions were focused on your current position , challenges that you experiencing and steps relating to ‘ getting your house in order ’. Many questions referenced the utility bill and quick interventions that could be actioned for immediate result . Including several questions relating to on-site generation decisions .
Let ’ s put this discussion in context !
Why is it important that you have your house in order prior to investing in on-site generation decisions ?
When we engage with new clients , agricultural clients , the business development team will assess and rate clients in one of five categories . One being a client that has recently started to understand their energy position and five , typically clients that already have on-site generation and a dedicated resource or team looking at energy and energy efficiency weekly .
At least 50 % of the clients we build relationships with are unaware at the start of the discussion that their energy waste is as high as 35 % of their monthly utility bill . Now we are not saying that the client is purposefully wasting energy by leaving working areas running or generally not aware of the cost . Rather we stating that you know from gut feeling that there are areas of waste , but it ’ s difficult to pinpoint ? One good example is power factor :
Frequently , end use customers pay a significant premium each month in demand charges because their Power Factor is below a threshold set by the utility in the rate tariff
Taking February as an example , this means that only 80 % of the incoming current does useful work (@ Max Demand where it is measured by the utility ). To complicate the matter further , its usually worded as The charge payable per unit of the Maximum Demand supplied during any 30
Figure 1 , Power Factor @ Max Demand
consecutive minutes of the billing period ( e . g . a month ) measured in kilovolt-ampere ( kVA ). With the correct support , the solution is relatively simple and easy to implement once the environment is understood .
In context , should this client have decided to invest prior to understanding his current energy position , he would have over invested up to 30 %?
This is true as the investment decision could have been clouded by information that skewed or misrepresented the requirements , therefore leading to unnecessary capital expenditure .
Your ability to get your ‘ house in order ’ does not need to be as cumbersome as power factor ! Many times , the utility has billed incorrectly resulting in cash outflow that is far higher than what you should be paying . Provided a methodical approach is followed in analysing the data the utility will review your complaint in a reasonable period . If there are errors on your bill you can go back as far as three years to rectify the error . Should you need to migrate your tariff ( limited options in the agricultural sector ) to a better option there is no utility that can stop you from doing so provided you have the case to prove this .
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SABI | APRIL / MAY 2017