Eskom is currently facing an energy crisis due to the limited operational electricity generating
capacity in South Africa. The historically low electricity price, the rapid growth in economy
and the energy intensive nature of South African industries are the most common reasons for
the peak supply problem.
Various supply and demand technologies have been identified to address this energy crisis.
Due to the lengthy process of building new peaking load power stations, Eskom has initiated
the Demand-side Management (DSM) programme as a solution to the short-term supply
problem.
The National Energy Regulator (NER) has set targets to Eskom DSM to reduce the evening
peak demand by 153 MW per annum and 4 255 MW over a 20-year planning horizon. Due to
the energy intensive nature of the mining industry, it has been targeted for DSM savings. To
date there have been a number of DSM projects implemented on the clear-water pumping
systems of various mines, with a large potential for DSM savings identified on future projects
still unrealised.
The generation benefit of DSM load-shifting projects is twofold; firstly Eskom's evening load
capacity increases due to the reduction in demand during these periods and secondly, the
mine receives electricity cost savings due to load management practices. Because Eskom
DSM is dependent on the client consumer to accept and roll-out the DSM programme, client
satisfaction is of paramount importance. Due to the fact that load-shifting efforts require from
the mine to change their normal operating schedules, there is uncertainty on the impact and
knock-on effects of DSM projects on a mine.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and thereafter quantify the overall
impact of DSM load-shifting on the clear-water pumping system of South African mines. A
generic model was developed by performing case studies on existing DSM projects. This
model was then applied to future DSM projects to validate the findings made throughout the
research study.
The case studies performed on existing DSM projects, as well as the results obtained when
modelling the overall impact of DSM on future mines, proofs that DSM definitely benefits a
mine. The total annual cost saving on the four future DSM projects is predicted to be in the
order of R 7.64 million instead of the R 4.27 million when considering only the electricity cost
savings to the mine. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Electrical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/1674 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | De Kock, Nicolaas Cornelius Jacobus Marthinus |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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