No description available.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of frequent operational changes on the repairs and maintenance of public lighting in the Energy and Electricity Division of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as a result of management decisions. The results of the study showed contrasting opinions and perceptions amongst all participants on the repairs and maintenance activities of public lighting. Both employees working in the maintenance operations and public lighting sections agreed that their sections were performing the repairs and maintenance of public lighting satisfactory. Customers and community leaders on the other hand agreed that the maintenance operations sections are performing the repairs and maintenance of public lighting satisfactory as compared to public lighting section. All employees were in favour and support of decisions taken respectively since these decisions were beneficial to their respective sections, but however they were concerned on the frequency of decisions taken by top management and changes implemented within their respective sections as these decisions and changes created confusion and conflict amongst employees. All sections involved in the repairs and maintenance of public lighting were faced with numerous similar challenges that created deficiencies and ineffectiveness on the maintenance activities of public lighting and that contributed to enormous complaints from customers and community leaders on the service rendered by the division.

The research in this thesis has undertaken a technical, economic and environmental appraisal of three gas-fired, small-scale Combined Heat-and-Power (CHP) systems together with a study of the UK's electricity supply industry (ESI) and CHP market. The purpose of each system is to attempt to utilise more of the heat and/or electricity output from the CHP unit. Within the non-technical research area, three scenarios for the evolution of the ESI have been developed to help establish how changes to forces acting within the industry might affect the development of the UK CHP market. New applications of several strategic management analysis tools were used to develop and select the following scenarios: (i) New and reduced CO₂ limits set by the Climate Control Conference + stricter environmental legislation; (ii) Changes to the Pool mechanism for pricing electricity; (iii) Business as usual. It was concluded that in isolation scenarios 1 and 3 would aid the expansion of the CHP market, whereas scenario 2 is likely to hinder it. The selection of the scenarios and the implications for the ESI and CHP market are supported by the opinions of 'industry specialists', which were solicited in a survey specifically undertaken for this study. The investigation into the first of the three technical systems involves the substitution of two separate CHP units in place of a single larger unit. The intention is to operate the larger of the two CHP units at maximum output to satisfy the base heat-load and to use the second unit for meeting peak loads. The results for five test-cases were produced via a newly-developed predictive model, and indicated that it is possible, for one of the case studies considered, to achieve shorter pay-back periods when using the double-unit - with a higher availability of 95% - rather than the single-unit system. In the other two cases (where CHP is a viable economic option), longer pay-back periods ensue by the installation of the two unit rather than the single-unit system. The operation of the two-unit system can potentially increase energy-utilisation from the CHP units at one of the other sites. Furthermore, the proposed system can offer, in some cases, significant secondary benefits, which could encourage a potential investor in the technology. These benefits include the increased heat-and-electricity output, increased availability from the system, back-up from the secondary unit if one unit fails. The second system determines the viability of an integrated small-scale CHP and TES system. Another predictive model was developed and tested on five test-cases. It was found that there is insufficient potential for the system and that the potential is limited by the following factors: (i) CHP-sizing methodology, (ii) the relatively high capital cost for TES hardware and installation, (iii) the relatively low economic value attributed to heat and (iv) the availability of low-priced off-peak electricity. An industrial case study provided a rare and useful operational example of the proposed system and the findings indicated that the heat-store could reduce the energy and monetary expenditures by up to 2.8% of the site's annual gas usage, displacing approximately 30 tones Of CO₂ emissions each year. However, because of the high financial cost of the TES components and installation, the pay-back period produced would rarely be acceptable to a prospective investor, except in exceptional circumstances. Finally, the viability of an integrated CHP/absorption chiller system was investigated. The effectiveness of these types of systems are dependent on several factors, namely: the source-water temperature from the hot-engine CHP unit - for a high COP - and the cooling load at the site, the cooling demand at the site and the temperature of the cooling water. A first-stage predictive model was developed to determine the initial appropriateness of the installation of the integrated system at a local hospital for the first time. The indications were that the cooling demand was too low and the surplus waste-heat from the CHP unit insufficient to make the system viable at the site. A second working-system was studied with a full CO₂ investigation undertaken. The intention was to compare the total CO₂ emissions for the integrated CHP and absorption chiller system with those for a similarly sized vapour-compression system. The results indicate that the installed system will produce 0.30kg CO₂/kWhcoolth compared with 0.27 kg and 0.32kg for two different types of vapour compression systems at design conditions. If the CHP heat output is increased - to supply all of the heat required by the absorption chiller - then the proposed system can displace up to 0.06 kg CO₂ per kWhcoolth at design conditions and 0.10 kg CO₂ per kWh of cooling delivered for lower cooling water temperatures. This represents a reduction of 22% and 40% respectively, when compared with the vapour-compressions system.

No description available.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of frequent operational changes on the repairs and maintenance of public lighting in the Energy and Electricity Division of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as a result of management decisions. The results of the study showed contrasting opinions and perceptions amongst all participants on the repairs and maintenance activities of public lighting. Both employees working in the maintenance operations and public lighting sections agreed that their sections were performing the repairs and maintenance of public lighting satisfactory. Customers and community leaders on the other hand agreed that the maintenance operations sections are performing the repairs and maintenance of public lighting satisfactory as compared to public lighting section. All employees were in favour and support of decisions taken respectively since these decisions were beneficial to their respective sections, but however they were concerned on the frequency of decisions taken by top management and changes implemented within their respective sections as these decisions and changes created confusion and conflict amongst employees. All sections involved in the repairs and maintenance of public lighting were faced with numerous similar challenges that created deficiencies and ineffectiveness on the maintenance activities of public lighting and that contributed to enormous complaints from customers and community leaders on the service rendered by the division.

The monopolistic South African electricity supply industry is undergoing a transformation that would change its ownership and market structure. The objective of this study was to determine whether the strategic choice to transform the industry is indeed appropriate. A qualitative, case based study of the existing and proposed South African electricity supply industry was performed. Various strategic tools and techniques, related to both strategic theory and electricity supply industry models, formed the basis of the evaluation. It was found that to overcome the critical weaknesses in the industry and to take advantage of the opportunities present in the dynamic and complex electricity supply industry the restructuring is appropriate. The restructuring would allow the South African Government to meet its objectives of having an efficient electricity supply industry and meet the huge suppressed demand for low cost electrification. South Africa intends adopting the wholesale competition model, however this study recommends that it should implement the single-buyer model. Should the restructuring be successfully implemented, customers in the South African electricity supply industry can expect high quality electricity at a competitive price. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, 2003.

Investment in electricity is a key element of the development process. Its importance is reflected in the growing recognition, since the 1960's, that investing in electricity provides and enhances knowledge, attitude and motivation necessary for economic and social development. The development and utilization of electricity create an economic atmosphere that has direct and indirect benefit for the economy. The direct impact is felt by most households who are able to affect households tasks more rapidly than before and save much time and effort in the process. Electricity also has an indirect impact on development. It improves the quality of life of the community by raising their income. The results of the survey at Katlehong confirms that the availability of electricity as a basic need appears to be far from satisfactory. Areas without electricity experience major social and economic costs as a result of dependency on costly and inconvenient energy sources. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 1993. / Economics / unrestricted

No description available.

Information Systems are fundamental to both the day to day operations and competitiveness of most organisations. As the rate of change in organisations continues to increase this dependency has become more critical. However methods for determining the Information Systems that an organisation needs have not moved forward to reflect these increases in organisational turbulence and new capabilities offered by Information Technology. Strategic Alignment is proposed as a new method for Information Systems Planning which recognises the dynamic role of Information Systems as an agent of change and to enable organisations to model and determine how Information Systems can be exploited to improve and transform Business Strategies. Important innovations in the method are incorporation of feedback to ensure that analysis of the interaction of the Information Systems and Business objects within the model is bidirectional. Also that the development of an Information Systems Plan is a complex process which has to be modular. This enables it to incorporate existing results and information where applicable and to deliver its results incrementally. The Strategic Alignment Method has been developed from extensive research which used the Electricity Supply Industry as the source of information because it was facing immense change after its privatisation. As a result detailed case study material is presented as well as the Strategic Alignment Methodology. Maintenance of an Information Systems Plan is also addressed. Once an Information Systems Plan is produced, its implementation can take a number of years. During this time the changes in Business Strategy and Information Systems capability will change. Strategic Alignment proposes methods that will ensure the ongoing harmonisation of the Strategies during the implementation of the plan. The practical nature of the research is reflected in the Addendum which describes the work that has been done to incorporate Strategic Alignment into ICL's services methodology and to train ICL Consultants in its use.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.