ECONOMY
Eskom creates control centre
Posted Fri, 19 May 2006
Eskom has established a residential control centre, a first for the African continent, as part of the integrated recovery plan in the Cape, the utility announced in a press release today.
Daily from 6.00pm until 9.00pm messages on the status levels of the electricity grid will be broadcast on SABC television channels.
"This service, called Power Alert, will kick-in from Thursday 25 May 2006 and consumers will be able to directly influence their electricity consumption during peak hours," Johnny Dladla managing director of key sales and customer services at the utility was quoted as saying.
Although Power Alert is aimed specifically at influencing the demand on the electricity grid in the Western Cape, the savings messages will be aired nationally.
The release said that electricity use is highly dependent and influenced by human behaviour and habits. Dladla explained that "research shows that since the residential sector uses approximately 35 percent of
maximum demand during peak periods, that a realistic savings of 153 megawatts (MW) per day could be realised in the Western Cape alone if consumers switch off according to the requirements of the current status levels."
According to the release, the residential sector in the Cape accounts for 1400 MW of the total 4000 MW forecast for the evening peak periods.
An added bonus is that according to estimations, the 625 000 households in the Western Cape will be able to save R3.9-million over the next three months by following the Power Alert instructions.
For maximum impact during the winter period, geysers, space heating, stoves and pool pumps should be switched off and only essential appliances and lights should be kept on during peak periods.
Prof LJ Grobler, from the energy services company Energy Cybernetics, explained that four status levels have been identified. These status levels are:
Green — Indicates that there is no strain
on the electrical supply of the Western Cape. No action is required by residential consumers.
Orange — Indicates that there is strain on the electrical supply. Residential consumers are prompted to switch off some non-essential loads such as tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, pool pumps, fridges, freezers and any unnecessary lights for the evening peak period or until notified of a green status. The shedding of these loads is not expected to cause any discomfort to residential consumers.
Red — Indicates that there is increasing strain on the electrical supply and that load shedding is imminent. Residential consumers are further prompted to switch off additional loads such as stoves, microwaves, kettles, space heating, air-conditioning and any unnecessary lights. This is also requested for the evening peak period or until notified of a green or orange status.
Brown —
Indicates that there is significant strain on the electrical supply and that load shedding is in progress. Residential consumers are prompted to switch off all loads that are not absolutely essential except the minimum lighting required for the room they are in and their television set (which is used to communicate the status). During this status residential consumers will also be asked to switch off geysers. This is also requested for the evening peak period or until notified of a change in status.
Eskom has said that the load forecasts will be based on real time data and will take into account historical loads, current real time loads and weather conditions. This approach enables the project team to perform continuous assessments on the impacts that the control centre achieves.
"These status levels are cyclical in nature, and the intent is to forecast and influence the load levels as they increase to ensure that the load curve is flattened as soon as possible,"
said Grobler. "We want to move the load from being orange, red or brown back to being green within the shortest possible time."
Similar programmes have successfully been implemented in Europe and South America the utility said, however, consumers only participated fully after experiencing a few blackouts.
"It is our hope that South Africa will lead the way in fully participating and following the guidelines set out by the Power Alert," said Grobler.
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