MechChem Africa November-December 2020

Securing SA’s energy supply: the multi-faceted approach MechChem Africa talks to Tygue Theron, Commercial Head of Energy Partners Intelligence, about the company’s holistic energy offering, from simple behaviour- based ‘war on waste’ efficiency drives to integrated and financed solar generation, refrigeration and energy management services funded via power purchase or shared savings agreements.

E nergy Partners (EP), which was founded in 2008 while the world was experiencing a financial crisis, is today a leading energy service provider, offering energy intelligence solu- tions; renewable solar and storage systems; heating and cooling as a service; and turnkey plants that come with co-owned and fully outsourced financial service options. Being part of the PSGGroup –which has a market capitalisation in excess of R40-billion and a 30.7% interest in Capitec – Energy Partners is an active investor in the solutions it develops, often eliminating the need for clients to find up-front capital to upgrade and secure their energy futures. Fundamental to EP’s success is energy optimisation in order to deliver lowest pos- sible consumption, best energy efficiencies and significantly reduced energy costs. The multi-faceted approach used to achieve this includes sourcing and funding the invest- ment capital, implementing solutions and then collecting and monitoring usage and performance on an ongoing basis to ensure that investments remain cash positive from day one to end-of-life.

The role of EP Intelligence Citing the recent announcement by Gwede Mantashe, South Africa’sMinister ofMineral Resources and Energy, of plans to tender for up to 16.8 GW of ‘emergency capacity’ to fill ‘desperate’ current needs, TygueTheronof EP Intelligence suggests that, for the time these projects arebeing completed, the countrywill still face undersupply. “This is where energy reduction can play a vital role,” he argues. “We act as a supporting partner for our other EP divisions and, for most projects, we will arrive on site first: to do a comprehensive set of measurements to see where energy is needed, how much is being consumed and where we may be able to make a difference. Initially, we set the baseline and identify op- portunities. Only then do we get our other divisions involved,” explains Theron. “We don’t stop there, though. We run ongoing energy management programmes, monitoring the site and making sure that any energy investments are delivering as they should. It’s all about measuring how well ev- erything and everyone is working together,” he adds. Energy Partner’s client base sits mostly

in the commercial sector, Theron continues: “While we don’t impose any limits in terms of clients or technologies, we tend to find that lighting, refrigeration, air conditioning, storage and ventilation are key areas where energy use can be reduced. Sometimes it’s as simple as topping up the refrigerant in a chill- er, and sometimes we can replace the whole refrigerationcircuitwithanammonium-based system, whichcanoftenhalve thepower draw compared to traditional plants,” he says. “We at EP Intelligence will identify the opportunity and then pass on our findings – to EP Refrigeration for an ammonium plant, for example, which will take on an upgrade project, secure the capital and then sell on the refrigeration as a service,” Theron explains. He describes a 10-year ongoing projectwithoneof SouthAfrica’s largest food retailers. “Not only has energy expenditure been reduced over the years, but demand from the national grid has been reduced by enough to power 800 000 homes

A 2.4 MWp PV system at Pick n Pay’s Longmeadow Distribution Centre: “South Africa has among the highest solar yield in the world, along with very favourable temperature profiles, so solar is an ideal technology for us,” says Theron.

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