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Energy Efficiency, Green Building & IBTs
H
VAC has been providing tech-
nology to PPC’s Hercules
plant in Pretoria to helpmoni-
tor electricity consumption and pro-
duction levels, in order to plan pro-
duction around peak times.
PPC Group Energy Manager,
Egmont Ottermann says, “We have
been working with HVAC since 2006,
constantly trying to optimise the per-
formance of our equipment sowe can
minimise energy costs. Essentially,
this software helps usmonitor factory
production and silo levels to ensure
stock levels are high enough for us to
switch off a unit during peak times.”
This energy saving initiative has
already been rolled out to five PPC
plants and plugs directly into PPC’s
control systems. According to Ot-
termann, the Hercules plant alone
can consume up to 10 megawatts,
depending on which equipment is
Monitoring energy consumption
Inpartnershipwithenergy servicecompanyHVAC, SouthAfrica’s leading
cement manufacturer, PPC, has been doing its part to take the stress
off the national energy grid through predictive production software.
being used. Ottermann believes this
project has been a resounding suc-
cess and has improved profitability.
“Load shifting is an important part
of reducing the likelihood of load
shedding and although each single
contribution seems like a drop in the
ocean, everyone needs to do their
part,” implores Ottermann.
“If this power crisis is going to last
five years, then we all need to do as
much as possible to become energy
efficient. This will help reduce the
occurrences of load shedding by
cutting our peak time use, we can al-
low that electricity to be distributed
elsewhere.”
Ottermann says that industry in
South Africa is actually on the leading
edge of energy efficiency measures.
It is not simply a nice to have, it is
an absolute business imperative,”
he says.
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