Den Heijer, W., North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; Grobler, L., North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
The necessity for effective and sustainable energy efficiency is now, more than ever, of critical importance for the various industrial sectors within the South African economy. The critical shortage of electricity, rising electricity costs, the Energy Efficiency Accord, the proposed Power Conservation Program (PCP), and tax incentives are but a few of the primary driving forces behind energy efficiency in South Africa's energy market. Electricity and its production cost is a risk that needs to be managed, which will effectively force industry to drive energy efficiency within itself. However, the impacts of energy efficiency often dissipate over time due to the lack of effective management information, which can only be provided through thorough measurement and verification (M&V). It should consequently go hand-in-hand with all aspects of energy efficiency projects, especially when considering the above-mentioned driving forces. The nature of energy efficiency in the industrial sector is often complex when quantifying the impacts and isolating them from energy reductions resulting from numerous other variables, such as production.This article will describe a measurement and verification methodology that is used to accurately and independently isolate, assess, and quantify the impacts obtained from energy efficiency activities in the industrial sector. These M&V results will not only be able to quantify the impacts of energy efficiency impacts under the PCP but also for the Energy Efficiency Accord, and they will form the backbone of the issuance of energy efficiency certificates to be used in trading and tax rebates. The methodology is described by means of an actual case study for a single industrial site.
Driving forces; Effective management; Electricity costs; Energy markets; Energy reduction; Industrial sector; Industrial sites; Measurement and verification; Power conservation; Production cost; South Africa; Sustainable energy; Tax incentive; Tax rebates; Energy conservation; Taxation; Energy efficiency