South Africa has not experienced load shedding since 26 March 2024 but unfortunately the streak ended on 31 January 2025. We don’t want to speculate as to the why’s, how’s and who’s of having had uninterrupted power for 10-months, but are thankful for having had ‘the lights on’ for more than 300 days.
“Eskom has confirmed that their various programmes to manage and mitigate electrical demand in South Africa are still running and they are actively reviewing applications from energy consumers. One of these programmes could be financially viable for foundries to partake in should they be able to manage and shift their demand load in the evening peak hours during the week,” commented Wessel Watt of Watt Industries.
“Eskom’s incentive and requirements are that one should be able to reduce the average demand during these 2 hours by at least 200kW. The current rebate is R3m/MW over a 24-month period and is paid quarterly by Eskom against the savings achieved,” explained Watt.
Some of Watt Industries’ current clients are also using their WDS to curb the excessive electricity rates during the winter peak periods as can be seen by the graph (Graph 1)
During the winter periods Viking Foundry mainly operate their smaller furnaces during the day (06:00 – 22:00) and start ramping up to run full production once the off-peak period kicks in at 22:00. From the graph one can see that the WATT Demand System (WDAS) kept their demand at 450kVA during these periods (red bars) and that they reached levels of close to 1 500 kVA during off-peak (Graph 2)
“WATT Demand Systems (WDS) provides technologies that can specifically assist foundries to participate in this programme in which they will not only be able to get some of their hard-earned tax monies back but could also result in additional savings while obtaining a better understanding of their energy needs and processes.”
“Some of our current clients are also using their WDS to curb the excessive electricity rates during the winter peak periods as can be seen by the graph (Graph 1), where during the peak periods the demand is set at lower levels to just maintain the plant during this period or reduce the load in line with their cost/benefit analyses and then allowing full production in the standard and off-peak periods.”
Viking Foundry
“Viking Foundry in Germiston is one of the latest foundries in South Africa that installed a WATT Demand System. The system was installed in May 2024 and was fully commissioned just in time for the winter peak season. Viking Foundry has opted for the Nightsave Urban tariff from Eskom, and it is essential for them to keep their electricity demand as low as possible during the peak periods to make full use of this tariff.”
Viking Foundry’s Eskom bill is testimony to the effectiveness and accuracy of the WDS and has helped Viking to still run production during these periods of extreme demand costs of R445/kVA and keeping their energy costs down
“During the winter periods they mainly operate their smaller furnaces during the day (06:00 – 22:00) and start ramping up to run full production once the off-peak period kicks in at 22:00. From the graph below (Graph 2) one can see that the WATT Demand System kept their demand at 450kVA during these periods (red bars) and that they reached levels of close to 1 500 kVA during off-peak.”
“We have dreaded every winter knowing that with it comes these exorbitant electricity rates. At Viking we tried to manually manage our demand and usage but have often got it wrong. Since the installation of our WDS, this pressure has been relieved, and we can focus on other areas in our foundry,” said Greg Estman from Viking Foundry.
GeT Metals
“During December 2023, a WATT Demand System was installed at GeT Steel in Atlantis, Western Cape, to manage and monitor their plant and their three, brand new Indemak induction furnaces,” said Watt.
From an available 8.4MVA at GeT, the demand limit was reduced to a limit of 7.5MVA. As the GeT team got more familiar with their new furnaces and equipment, operations and production, and with the information and monitoring provided by their WDS it was decided to reduce the demand limit with another 500kVA
“From an available 8.4MVA at GeT, the demand limit was reduced to a limit of 7.5MVA. As the GeT team got more familiar with their new furnaces and equipment, operations and production, and with the information and monitoring provided by their WDS it was decided to reduce the demand limit with another 500kVA,” continued Watt.
Ebrahim Khan, a Director at GeT Metal Group said: “We knew from the start that we needed to get accurate and timeous data to allow us to streamline our operations and to run as energy efficiently as possible. We have been working closely with the WATT team to reduce our demand costs. During December 2024, we reduced the demand from 7.5MVA to 7MVA and have been able to get the same number of heats per day and production tonnage while saving us R 86 300.00 in demand costs per month.”
During December 2024 the GeT Metal Group reduced the demand from 7.5MVA to 7MVA and have been able to get the same number of heats per day and production tonnage while saving R 86 300.00 in demand costs per month
“On 01 April 2025 we will see another increase in rates for Eskom clients followed by that of municipal clients from 01 July 2025. WATT Industries are ready to assist in obtaining a better understanding of your power and energy costs and to help your plant run as efficiently as possible. They can assist with the participation in the Eskom Distribution Demand Management Programme as well as to prepare detail analyses of your energy usage and demand to see if you could benefit from implementing their technologies,” said Watt.
For further information contact Wessel Watt on +1 713 248 2943 (USA) or +27 83 652 2007 (RSA) or Soeren Schneider on +49 172 625 5546 (Germany) or visit WATT Demand Systems https://www.wattdemandsystems.com and https://www.eskom.co.za/distribution/demand-management-programme/#Load-management