Electricity + Control July 2019

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

national grid during peak periods. Moreover, when a failure happens, its impact is isolated to a limited area and repairs can be completed much faster. Securing microgrids may also be considered easier, as private operators may be better equipped and are certainly incentivised to protect themselves and their assets against the threat of unsafe, illegal connections. Localised grids have the dual benefits of easily reducing the cost of power by as much as half the current cost and easing the burden on the national grid. These benefits can only increase exponentially over time as cheaper and more efficient technologies are developed. The first African country to unbundle its power utility in 2001 was Uganda, followed by Nigeria 2010. These early examples offered many lessons, but most importantly, that unbundling should not be the end of the story. It must be accompanied by a well- structured regulatory framework that supports new competition and continued operational efficiency. Any regulatory body responsible for the sector needs to be strong enough to do the important job of opening the industry to new independent power producers, while creating innovative incentives for consumers to produce and store their own power and feed it back into the system if and when needed. Opening the power industry for diversification will not pose a threat to Eskom. In fact, it can only strengthen the utility’s role as the base load supplier, as it will offer the company the much-needed margin to conduct thorough maintenance and ensure that any new-build programmes are conducted steadily and strategically, with the best interests of all South Africans at heart.

Opening the power industry for diversification will not pose a threat to Eskom. In fact, it can only strengthen the utility’s role as the base-load supplier.

Seydou Kane, Eaton South Africa’s Managing Director: “Our key objective is to enable broad access to energy-efficient solutions in Africa that help consumers manage power in a safe, cost-efficient and sustainable way.”

Microgrids offer increased energy access for Africa Eaton’s Senior Application Leader in Microgrid Energy Systems, Bunty Kiremire, leads the execution of the company’s strategy in this sector across the African continent. The strategy was spearheaded by Eaton’s award-winning microgrid at its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Wadeville, Johannesburg. The system uses behind-the-meter energy storage and solar power to reduce the company’s carbon emissions and overall energy costs by more than 50%. “Innovations in energy storage and microgrid technologies that incorporate renewables are especially important to Africa, where access to energy is, on average, just 42%. In some countries access rates are as low as 15% of the total population,” Kiremire says. “Further, most commercial, industrial and residential customers who do have access to energy still face issues with regard to the availability and resilience of the power supply system. Microgrid energy systems that incorporate energy storage and renewable energy can be used to address the issues of access, resilience and cost of energy that the continent now faces.”

Electricity + Control

JULY 2019

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