Electricity and Control June 2021

COMMENT

INDUSTRY 4.0 + IIOT

Energy efficiency can make the difference T here seems to have been nothing quite like the national energy utility to hammer home just how important energy efficiency is.

energy + information in industry

Of course it was predicted, but no one was really interested in hearing what was being said at the time. Energy efficiency, if tackled properly, will save users money and will also essentially ‘build’ additional power stations – in the sense that, if we could reduce the load, we’d be able to get away with our current kit far more effectively. So with the news just in that we are back at Stage 2 load shedding, let’s all look at our plants, our production lines, our offices and even our homes – and see if we actually can make a real difference in how much energy we use. Many organisations have made massive strides in this regard, but opportunities remain for much of our industry. I can recall the difficulty Electricity + Control had, as a magazine, trying to convince people that energy simply has to be – in all cases – a carefully monitored parameter that speaks to the efficiency of a plant. Perhaps fifteen years ago many still had the view that energy was simply a cost, and the efficiency of the process had little to do with the energy efficiency of the plant. (Perhaps many still do.) There was no real incentive to think otherwise. Perhaps we were too convinced that energy, in our context, would simply never be a problem. We had lots of coal, we had lots of power stations, and energy was cheap. Now there is a real call to ask what the correct and most appropriate approach should be. Now is the time to begin to think deeply about the real sustainability of everything we do. Let’s get ahead of the curve this time around.

Iritron advises that integrated automation and data acquisition systems are key to enabling real-time visibility and timeous decision making, improving operational efficiencies and long-term business sustainability. (Read more on page 3.)

While the new build fell way behind schedule and costs escalated, many of the existing plants began to grind and squeak as the utility gallantly tried to maintain output. Then industries, and homeowners too, began to see opportunities. Some of these were born of necessity (like onsite generation capacity), while in other cases owners saw a move to a far better and more sustainable future. Various industries considered gas, solar plants and even wind energy sources. The thinking caps were on. Just like the corona virus, however, the energy supply crisis is going nowhere fast. Load shedding and a severely restricted capacity to deliver baseload will be with us for some years to come. This is when it becomes almost a national imperative to look again, and very seriously, at energy efficiency. I recall vividly the days when, in as much as we used to publish articles aimed specifically at this topic, few truly saw the value. And that’s not surprising. Energy was cheap (too cheap, truth be told) and it was well-documented that we had built too many power stations, back in the day. Then, in the early part of this century, our economy began to grow, and grow… (although, to be fair, that process has been successfully reversed to reduce any unnecessary strain on our generation capacity). We found ourselves up the creek as it were – seemingly unable to stave off the predicament.

Editor: Leigh Darroll Design & Layout: Darryl James Advertising Manager: Heidi Jandrell Circulation: Karen Smith Editorial Technical Director: Ian Jandrell Publisher: Karen Grant Deputy Publisher: Wilhelm du Plessis

Audited circulation: Quarter 1 (January-March) 2021 Total print and e-editions: 9559

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Electricity+Control is supported by

Ian Jandrell PrEng IntPE(SA), BSc(Eng) GDE PhD, FSAAE FSAIEE SMIEEE

Electricity + Control JUNE 2021

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The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA or the Copper Development Association Africa