First-world technology, local expertise to solve third-world problems

South Africa's vast geographical landscape and the great socio-economic disparities between urban and rural communities mean the country faces unique developmental challenges, many of which are best solved by South African people and locally-developed and inspired solutions.

One such example is Cart (Computer Aided Reticulation of Townships), a specialised software solution, which was created by local people specifically to assist designers of electrical distribution networks to develop systems that are as cheap as possible, while complying with Eskom's standards.

Cart - which was developed in the early 1990s by Terrain Software Systems, now called Ciber Terrasoft - provides designers with powerful integrated tools that allow them to explore trade-offs and use engineering judgement to find an optimal solution far quicker and more cost-effectively than manually possible.

Since the first commercial version was launched to the market in 1998, Cart has evolved from an initial release to a sophisticated tool that enhances productivity throughout the design process.

Ciber Terrasoft's Raj Rajakanthan, who was part of the original development team, explains that when the national electrification programme was first planned, it was assumed that the cost per connection would be in the order of R2 000 and that within a year of being connected, consumption would reach 350kWh per month, which would enable Eskom to recover these costs.

"However, the average cost per connection turned out to be much higher, with costs more than doubling in rural areas, which seriously impacted on the available capital. The energy consumption was also much lower than predicted which had an impact on the cost recovery.

"Thus, the financial viability of the electrification campaign was under threat and Eskom commissioned us to develop a powerful, integrated tool that would streamline the design process, increase productivity, curb costs and minimise the cost recovery period," recalls Rajakanthan.

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Cart has proved effective in reducing the average cost per electrical connection, as well as network energy losses, which has helped make the utility's ambitious "Electricity for All" programme economically viable.

To date, Cart has facilitated the cost-effective electrification of some of the country's most outlying, rural communities including Yellow Wood, Marula Park, Mameneng, Drieziek Ext 6, Allemansdrift, Masakhane and Robega, to name but a few.

According to Rajakanthan, Ciber Terrasoft undertook a joint evaluation of Cart with Eskom Distribution Technology in 2000 and again in 2001. The results demonstrated that engineers who used Cart saw a three-fold increase in productivity, with significant improvement in the quality of designs while complying with Eskom's standards.

Errors with costing and ordering materials were eliminated, reducing wastage of time, money and effort. The company has since launched an even more powerful version of Cart.

Rajakanthan concludes saying: "Electricity is a key enabler of socio-economic growth in Africa. Unfortunately, many people still don't have access to reliable power in Africa, despite its potential to satisfy current and future energy needs with its large fossil fuel reserves and some of the best hydroelectric sites in the world.

"It all comes down to funding and containing costs, which is where Ciber Terrasoft and Cart can make a difference.

"As a born and bred South African company, Ciber Terrasoft understands the unique challenges our Government and businesses in this country face, so we are well-placed to assist in addressing them. In essence, we are using cutting-edge, first-world technology to solve third-world problems, cost-effectively."