In early 2008 South Africa’s state electricity utility Eskom
was forced to roll out national power cuts as it was unable
to meet energy demand. This “load shedding” is said to
have cost the economy around R50bn (US$3.2bn) as
shopping malls saw periods of darkness and mines had to
temporarily cease operations. And while most South
Africans and businesses felt frustrated by the challenges,
one electrical engineer saw a massive opportunity.
Johan Theron (68) is the inventor of PowerGuard, an
innovation that allows businesses to moderate and control
their electricity demand. This leads to more efficient power
usage, to help reduce cuts and their overall electricity bill.
The technology helps businesses to direct power to areas
most needed and reduce demand in areas least needed
during certain times. For example, in the mornings a hotel
might be using more power as guests are showering,
breakfast is being prepared and a conference kicks off. To
ensure that the electricity doesn’t cut out during these
peak times and to reduce costs, PowerGuard allows
control over where power is directed. For instance,
geysers can be staggered to reheat water (once guests
have showered) at a later stage when there is less
demand for electricity.
“To put it into financial terms, we could save a hotel with
a 100 rooms… between R10,000 to R20,000 ($640 to
$1,280) a month,” Theron told How we made it in Africa .
He has also developed another product, called the Elon,
which is an easy-to-install technology that allows
customers to seamlessly switch between their utility
power supply and solar power to efficiently heat water.
Combined with the PowerGuard technology, operators can
supplement just enough utility power with their solar
power capacity to ensure their water is properly heated,
even on cloudy days.
His innovation earned him a nomination for this year’s
Innovation Prize for Africa.
Beyond South Africa
While load shedding made a comeback in 2014 and 2015,
Eskom has stated there will be no more scheduled power
cuts for the 2016/2017 financial year. However, electricity
tariffs have risen considerably and placed a burden on
businesses and Theron sees a large market for
PowerGuard amongst companies looking to reduce their
electricity bill and prevent power trips.
He added that it can take between eight and 24 months for
clients to see returns on their PowerGuard investment,
depending on the system. “If they have got a boiler
system they very often amortise within a year. If we only
do the air-cons it can take up to almost two years before
they amortise.”
However, Theron has his eyes on other African markets,
where regular power cuts are far more frequent. His
solution can already be found in Namibia, but the
company is looking to expand elsewhere on the continent.
“If you look at places like Zambia and Angola, for
example, they have enormous amounts of power outages
and, at the moment, that is where this product is being
aimed.”
Solving Africa’s challenges
Theron, who designed electronics for mining company
Anglo American for years before starting his own
business, said one of the greatest impediments to
innovation in Africa is lack of finance. For example, just
certifying new technology can cost thousands, which can
be especially limiting for small companies or start-up
entrepreneurs with great solutions, but small budgets.
However, he believes that the innovations that will be
successful in Africa will be those that are affordable and
reliable.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment