Electricity and Control May 2024

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Battery system bridges power outages to secure water supply

A mong African countries, South Africa is the only mem ber of the G20 on the continent, and it is a founding member of BRICS, together with China, Russia, India and Brazil. Rich in mineral resources, it has one of the three highest GDPs in Africa. Yet, its domestic economy is under strain due to inflation, high unemployment and, in particular, the country’s power shortage, which has a negative impact on business activities and broader economic development. As is well known, the national utility’s mostly ageing pow er plants result in unplanned blackouts from time to time and scheduled load shedding is ongoing. This has also af fected water supply facilities, with a significant impact on people’s lives. In 2023, NEC XON, a subsidiary of Japanese information technology company NEC, based in South Africa and operating across sub-Saharan Africa, undertook a project to install an emergency battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Clapham Pumping Station in Limpopo. The pump station is operated by the Lebalelo Water Users Association (LWUA), a public-private joint water utility established in 2002. LWUA has been operating the water supply infrastructure in this area for more than two decades. Its planned 100-kilometre pipeline will supply water throughout the Sekhukhune District Municipality and Mogalakwena Municipality, some 300 kilometres northeast of Johannesburg. The main industry in the region is mining, and water from the Clapham pumping station plays an important role in mining operations. Once completed, the pump station and distribution pipelines will also supply domestic water to some 380 000 people in more than 100 municipalities. Wa ter from the pumping station is essential to the day-to-day life of communities and industry in the region. The Clapham BESS started operations in July 2023. The 3.4 MWh containerised BESS solution supplied by partner in this project, Solar MD, includes 1 MW AEG inverters and 630 kVA transformers as well as variable frequency

drives for the 500 kVA pumps. Now the pump station is self sufficient in electricity for up to four hours a day. This is key to ensuring operational continuity during load shedding. By eliminating real-time power shortages with the BESS, this initiative mitigates the disruption of water pumping operations, ensuring a stable supply of water to local communities and commercial users. A significant responsibility Herman Viljoen, General Manager of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage at NEC XON said, “We have a huge responsibility, as an NEC company, to ensure the success of this project. Social infrastructure directly influences peo ple’s lives and, in South Africa, water is a critical resource.” As well as serving the mining sites, water in future will be delivered to other areas, reaching agricultural land, educa tional and recreational facilities, and more he said, adding: “So this project is really a lifeline for the communities, pro viding water security.” LWUA Chairperson Prakashim Moodliar said the water delivery programme will lead to economic growth in the re gion, expressing hope that “this model will be a catalyst for many similar infrastructure programmes.” South African Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, has also recognised the project as a major mile stone in the country’s development, saying: “This partner ship represents a new era in water service delivery. It repre sents a leap in the qualitative transformation in South Africa and we are proud of it.” In addition to the BESS programme, NEC XON has par ticipated in a school infrastructure project at Kwata Primary School in Limpopo, where, with other companies it is help ing set up facilities for water supply and Internet access at the school. NEC XON built an integrated solar power and energy storage solution to support the energy needs of the school. The need for infrastructure across Africa Considering the concerns about power shortages also in countries neighbouring South Africa, NEC XON aims to ex pand its energy storage business to other African countries as part of its effort to help communities on the continent with the provision of critical infrastructure. “The battery energy storage solution solves many prob lems,” says Viljoen, “and these problems are present not only in South Africa but elsewhere on the continent too. There is a huge social responsibility to deliver the basics for communities throughout Africa.” He says NEC XON aims to increase its global competi tiveness and drive the supply of infrastructure in Africa: “We want to expand our international capability and be a major player on the African continent for the supply of energy and battery storage solutions.”

The containerised battery energy storage system at the Clapham Pumping Station in Limpopo.

For more information visit: https://www.nec.africa/

32 Electricity + Control MAY 2024