Energy on handover of Green Technologies in Vryburg

Greening Technologies handover to Tygerkloof Combined School, switch-on of Naledi Substation and visit to Smart Grid Intervention Project in the Naledi Local Municipality

Friday, 17 March 2017, was an action packed day for the Minister of Energy, Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Mayor of Naledi Local Municipality, Cllr. Neo Skalk who handed-over and launched several projects in Naledi Municipality, Vryburg.

First was the handover the Greening Technologies to Tygerkloof Combined School and also visited the smart grid intervention project (pilot site) in the Naledi Local Municipality.  The Greening Technologies are part of the Working for Energy Programme launched by the Department of Energy in 2009, and is implemented through the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI).

The objective of the Working for Energy Programme is to provide sustainable clean energy solutions to rural and low income urban communities with special emphasis on job creation, skills development and community enterprise development. The focus of the Programme is on bioenergy derived from bio-waste, with more emphasis on agricultural waste.

Tygerkloof Combined School was chosen as one of the beneficiary institutions of the Working for Energy Programme, while Naledi Local Municipality is implementing a Revenue Enhancement Project.  The Project entails addressing the challenges within the entire value chain of the electricity operations of the municipality.  The efforts that have been invested in this project have been steered to achieve Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Integrated Value Chain management, Tariff Redesign, Customer audit and segmentation, Energy Balancing and Back-office integration.

At the School, the Minister handed over a central water purification system to soften all borehole water fed specific to the Solar Water Heaters and in general to all other geysers in the campus. There are 20x 300l High Pressure Solar Water Heaters installed in the dormitories, (10 for the boys hostel and 10 for the girls hostels.) A 20 cubic meter biogas digester has been installed near the kitchen.  It will use a combination of main kitchen food waste, cow and pig manure, the latter being available from livestock in the school farm, and the bio-effluent form, the digester is an organic bio-fertiliser which is being used across the campus.

The School has since realised remarkable savings elements brought about by these new technologies, According to the school, “Before the water purification system we had big challenges with calcification in the water and replaced on average 275 geyser elements per year. Each element cost R138.09 (latest price). The total average annual expenditure was R37 974.00. We replaced on average 110 thermostats per year @ R303.66 (latest price). The total average annual expenditure was R33 402.60. Again in 2016, only 30 geyser elements were replaced at staff houses and the kitchen at a total cost of R4 142.70 where there are electric geysers. None were replaced in the hostels where there are solar geysers.”

The Minister further officially Switched-On the Naledi Substation on this day, the station has a full capacity of 10MVA and is connected from the existing Eskom substation by 11km, 22kV supply line which together with the substation amounted to R 21 638 000.00. The sub-station was built to supply all the new extensions from extension 25 in Vryburg. The sub-station is currently supplying 1 500 households in Extension 25 which are already electrified and 1 000 households in Extension 28 which are in the process of being electrified. The project was implemented as a multi-year project consisting of three phases, starting from the 2013/14 financial year until it was commissioned and energised in May 2016.

The Minister also used this opportunity to engage with the community of Vryburg on issues of service delivery with a special focus on sustainable provision of energy for socio-economic development. “This year has been declared the year of OR Tambo Centenary Celebration. To ensure that we realise the National Development Plan’s goals, the Naledi Sub-station has been built to ensure energy access for all the people of Naledi. The station will provide electricity to 5 000 households in the area. We also went to Tygerkloof Combined School where we unveiled a programme of biogas, solar energy and renewable energy to ensure that the school has access to energy using off-grid technologies. We want a clean and green energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are working with Eskom to ensure that all houses are electrified, and we are also working with Municipalities and Provinces to eradicate illegal connections, to bring about smart meters to ensure that municipalities are able to collect revenue, and that they are ultimately able to pay Eskom. We are, therefore, encouraging you to pay for the services as your receive them from the municipality,” said Minister Joemat-Pettersson.

The members of the community expressed their thankful gratitude to the Minister and the Mayor for the sterling work done and encouraged them to continue to deliver government services unabated. “Through electricity, we are able to cook, boil water, iron and our children are able to study. The Minister’s work in our area (Naledi extension 25) is greatly appreciated, - thanks to the Minister,” said one of the residents who attended the community Imbizo. 

Enquiries:
Ms Thandiwe Maimane
E-mail: thandiwe.maimane@energy.gov.za / Mediadesk@energy.gov.za
Cell: 083 645 7837
Tel: 012 406 7470

Ms Lerato Ntsoko
E-mail: lerato.ntsoko@energy.gov.za
Tel: 012 406 7799
Cell: 082 459 2788

Mr Johannes Mokobane
E-mail: johannes.mokobane@energy.gov.za
Tel: 012 406 7481
Cell: 082 766 3674 12 406 7475 / 7481

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