Business Connexion launches Energy Efficiency Services

“Electricity is the oxygen of an economy... We all need a stable power system.” Eskom Chief Executive Brian Dames - Johannesburg, January 2012.

“The strategy of shifting maintenance outages can no longer be sustained. We do not want to go back to load-shedding, but we cannot do this alone. We need to save 10% of our current energy demand and remove 3 000 megawatts from our demand to ensure that the power system can operate in a stable mode,” adds Eskom Chief Executive Brian Dames.

In a move which demonstrates its ability to innovate and participate in the salient issues of the day, in this case our national energy shortage, ICT services company Business Connexion launched its Energy Efficiency Services, on the back of a signed partnership agreement with Eskom as an official Energy Services Company (ESCO).

Business Connexion sees this as a R1 billion sector for the operation during the next two years, with a focus on big industry, including the mining and manufacturing sectors, petrochemical, retail, and financial services, plus vast opportunities with government.

Studies to establish energy efficiency, comparing South Africa to other countries with a similar per-capita GDP, indicate that South Africa is more electricity-intensive by between 35% and 65%, of which a significant proportion is estimated to arise from the use of less energy efficient technologies and production processes. This leaves substantial opportunities for energy saving.

Furthermore, in line with international governance trends, local companies are likely to be legally bound to adopt sustainable business practices at some point in future. Requirements such as the reduction of a company's impact on the environment, among others, are being supported by developments such as new building standards.

There is an urgent need to accelerate energy efficiency projects to reduce the growing energy shortfall. Tariff increases of 25% have already been approved. However, government has set a goal of influencing business to reduce consumption by 10% over a three-year period.

As an Eskom-approved Energy Services Company (ESCO), Business Connexion is accredited to identify opportunities for achieving reductions in electricity consumption and the scoping and execution of such projects. The company offers integrated energy management solutions, including energy audits, assessments, financing, commissioning and ongoing management, offering financial benefits, improved performance of plant and reduced maintenance.

With electricity prices escalating steeply, Vanessa Olver, Business Connexion Deputy CEO and Group Executive: Services, says that more than ever, efficiency has become a necessity not only to manage costs, but also to prevent a recurrence of the load-shedding of 2007.

As an Eskom-approved ESCO, Olver says Business Connexion has demonstrated its suitability and competence to develop and deploy technology that will conserve power within the commercial and industrial environments.

”As a specialist in the design, delivery and operation of data centres, our ESCO status gives Business Connexion the ability to develop and deploy technology which reduces the demand on the national grid, while delivering its clients' computing needs at optimal cost. By their nature, data centres and enterprise computing systems consume a lot of energy. However, there is definite room for improvement and scope for optimisation to ensure that there is no wastage of any resources, electricity included,” continues Olver.

“Optimising not only the costs, but also the actual consumption of electricity is critical from another perspective, too - with limitations on the availability of electricity supply to data centres, it is imperative to get maximum computing power from every kilowatt hour, to keep enterprise computing on,” she explains.

The ESCO status is afforded to Business Connexion's Energy and Industrial Solutions Centre of Excellence, itself within the company's Professional Services division. The company qualifies for Eskom funding where it can demonstrate reductions in electricity consumption internally and for its clients.

Barry Bester, Manager - Industrial Solutions, Professional Services at Business Connexion, adds: “Essentially, this means that when we help our clients to deploy energy efficient technology, a rebate could offset the cost of that technology.”