The South African energy crisis continues with alarming relentlessness, severely impacting many aspects of South African life for citizens and businesses - from issues arising within transport and water supply, to the limited functioning of hospitals, schools and manufacturers. As the public outcry rages on, the latest communications around power outages from Eskom offer little relief.
The parastatal, which is responsible for 95% of the country's energy production, has advised all South Africans to brace themselves for fresh waves of rolling power cuts, and to accept that these incidents will most likely be an ongoing presence in our day-to-day lives for the foreseeable future.
While most South Africans seem to have given up and come to terms with this pronouncement, believing there to be no alternative solution, Mohamed Cassoojee, Software AG South Africa's Vice-President and Country Manager, says new technology advances and their availability locally mean we are by no means at a dead end in terms of finding a solution to the energy crisis in the country.
"A number of technology solutions exist which can provide easily attainable, affordable and sustainable respite from the negative effects of the current energy crisis in the country," says Cassoojee.
According to Cassoojee, one of the most vital changes that can be made to the current energy management scenario is improving predictability, which empowers utilities to make smarter decisions based on real-time analytics systems. Some of Software AG's global success stories of these systems being incorporated include major utilities such as Duke Energy, AEP, Orlando Utility Commission, among many others.
Cassoojee explains that energy analytic solutions can be designed and customised specifically for a utility's needs, through the creation of a real-time continuous asset monitoring and analytics platform. "Through this platform, up-to-the-minute data is managed through an interactive dashboard - which is essentially a central command centre for process monitoring and event detection through smart metering," he says.
In fact, Cassoojee says much of the most recent challenges affecting the power grid can be avoided altogether, with some of these simple measures implemented. He explains further that this system can interface with a wide variety of operational technologies, such as meter data management, outage alert systems and customer database information, system and workforce optimisation, cycle times and efficacies of various departments, identification of delays and 'bottlenecks', as well as management of billing and revenue. "Through this information it is possible to identify causes of problems or failures within the service chain, and respond to issues to resolve them with greater speed and accuracy."
There is also major benefit gained in the collection and measurement of this data over time. "Precise measurement readings provide a more in-depth understanding of how processes are working," says Cassoojee. "This historical data is crucial to scenario planning and disaster management, and can be used to determine future situations and possible outcomes, using real-time trends and metrics as key indicators."
With high levels of energy theft also a major thorn in the side of South African energy supply, smart meter alerts also provide the capability to immediately identify inconsistencies in consumption patterns anywhere across the grid, with real-time streaming geographical data, which allows for quick investigation and reaction time in order to protect the infrastructure and resources.
"The true beauty of this integrated technology is that it is incredibly adaptable and flexible - it can be seamlessly extended, down-scaled, altered or adjusted to suit any new additions, repairs or upgrades made within the system."
This type of 'seamless' digitisation does not disrupt current processes - rather, these systems adapt around the existing platform without requiring an entire overhaul of the operation. A number of interchangeable 'plug-in' features are designed to manage certain aspects of the system, while an all-encompassing monitoring and analytics system ensures each element of the process speaks to the other and all data is collected to a central point.
"These systems have been proven to show tangible value for power utilities, with real results being seen within the first six months to a year in terms of increased productivity, efficiency and governance, as well as increased revenue, higher profits, and reduced risk," continues Cassoojee.
"Now more than ever, South African citizens and businesses need progress and transparency on the extent of the energy crisis, and need to understand what plans are being implemented to address these issues. With the increasing awareness of the availability of these software solutions among South Africans, we are starting to see an increase in demand for action to be taken that protects our economy, creates an attractive environment for foreign investment, and uplifts the general standards of living of all citizens " he concludes.
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