All indications point to 2023 being another year that South Africans will be required to operate in a very challenging energy-constrained environment. Additionally, increasing energy costs will impact on businesses, as they do on households. To deal with these challenges, all businesses can take steps towards saving electricity, using it more smartly, or generating their own.
Measuring and monitoring your electricity usage is the starting point to managing it more efficiently.
Roger Hislop, Energy Management Systems Executive at CBI Energy says, “South Africans are understandably shocked by the tariff increases that Nersa has approved, with an 18.65% increase set to take place from April 2023 (although this has been flagged for review) and another 12.74% confirmed for next year. This would constitute a more than 30% increase in just over a year,” he notes, “leading to price increases more broadly and driving higher inflation.”
Hislop points out that, in addition, most municipalities with electricity distribution licences will add a higher markup, which would mean, from April, South Africans could expect to see increases of up to 22% or more on their utility bills, depending on their local supplier.
“These significant cost increases, together with continued low reliability of energy supply, will strengthen the case for installing solar and battery storage, but they also show that private generation is only half the solution. Automated energy management and load control systems can help to reduce demand, reduce wasteful consumption and optimise power availability.
“The only solution in the short term is for business and residential consumers to use electricity more efficiently, use less of it, and treat it like the scarce resource it has become,” he recommends.
Hislop outlines ten tips to help users take control of their energy costs.
- Understand your bills
A lot of business owners are unclear on what they are paying for in terms of ‘time of use’ tariffs, for example, and Notified Maximum Demand penalties. Once these are understood, some simple behaviour changes can take 20 to 30% off a business’ electricity bill.
- Check your bills
Install managed smart meters behind the utility meter to confirm you are being billed correctly. This will also enable you to see, day by day, the business’s trend in consumption, so you can identify runaway usage before it’s presented in a month-end bill.
- Measure, measure, measure
Put managed smart meters on key distribution boards or large loads to understand where consumption is happening, and when.
- Energy design
Build a simple plan around what parts of the business are energy-critical, such as IT infrastructure, production machines, knowledge workers’ computers, and communications systems. Consider which areas are first, second and third priority electricity consumers; this allows you to plan energy resilience systems.
- Schedule loads
Simply putting bigger loads on an automated schedule can save 10% on energy bills. Air conditioners, geysers and hydro boils don’t need to be on at night. Most office lighting can be switched off too. Basic timers can do the job, although a better option is centrally managed load controllers that allow you to adapt quickly to changing conditions.
- Only when needed
Don’t leave anything running unless it’s needed. Load controllers can be installed on air conditioners in meeting rooms, for example. This, combined with a room occupancy sensor, means the power is only used when necessary.
- Manage the physical environment
Look at the office design and see if it can be made more efficient: using less electric lighting and more natural lighting options, for example. Installing draught-doors can help reduce heating and cooling costs.
- Small-scale embedded generation (SSEG)
In South Africa, SSEG is generally either a generator set or a solar PV installation. Generators are a useful stopgap, but the cost is high per kWh. The price of solar systems is falling, although continuing demand is keeping costs high, so it’s worth ensuring that you are dealing with an installer with sound credentials and a solid, referenceable, track record.
- Apply load management to SSEG
By managing loads efficiently, using even a basic Building Energy Management system, you can reduce the size of the inverter and batteries needed and ensure it is not tripped by overloading. With solar PV installations, the system can be optimised by using energy to ‘sweat the sun’ – in other words – don’t waste sunlight by starting the day with full batteries.
- Consider the impact of energy security on your business
Electricity costs come directly off the bottom line, but reduced productivity, damage to equipment or machines, or not being open for business reliably, all have a serious negative impact. All these factors need to be considered to navigate the energy crisis effectively.
For more information visit: www.cbi.energy.