Municipality looking at alternative

electricity options

 Francois du Plessis

 Bitou Municipality's Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Department is exploring various alternative power sources. They are also reviewing current load saving options.  The Municipality currently buys about 20MW a month from ESKOM for its six main stations in Plettenberg Bay and the surrounding areas. During the past seven years, Bitou's consumption has increased by about six percent due to population growth and continued development. 

Although the prevalence of load shedding has decreased during the past two weeks, department manager Peter Harperstad is adamant that the municipality should assist in decreasing consumption.  The main areas of concern during load shedding are the water and sewerage pump stations, which is responsible for the town's water supply and sewerage systems.

 These stations have back-up generators, but continued power outages will stretch the resources of the municipality considerably and place additional pressure on the water supply.  "Using the standby generators on a constant basis requires extra manpower as well as increased maintenance costs to ensure that all equipment is in operational.  We are therefore currently looking at additional ways of saving electricity and potentially lowering our consumption," he said

 The municipality is currently planning on re-establishing and expanding the radio-controlled ripple relay systems for water geysers.  Approximately 2000 meters have been installed and plans are on the cards to re-instate the controls for existing meters and installing several more in conjunction with ESKOM.  This will enable the municipality to monitor the load during daytime by switching off water geysers sporadically.

 "If we manage to shift our load to off-peak times, we could potentially alleviate the necessity of load shedding.  We are currently investigating alternative sources such as wind farms or hydraulic systems, but this would entail a massive capital outlay," mentions Harperstad.

Do your bit:
Save electricity

 •        switch off unnecessary lights.

•        manually switch underfloor heating between 06:00 and 20:00. Research has shown that the ambient temperature will not drop by more than 2˚C during this period.

•        energy efficient use of high usage appliances such as air conditioners by closing doors and windows while units are on and keeping the temperature control to optimal level of 20˚C.

•        allow pool filters to work during off-peak times from 21:00 to 04:00.