• Electrolux invests R16 million in new 1 MW solar system at Benoni factory.
• Carbon footprint to be slashed by 40% through solar energy.
• Green energy powered electric forklifts to replace diesel in three years. 

Electrolux South Africa has embarked on its journey to exit the national electricity grid and move to renewable solar energy, cutting the organisation’s carbon footprint at its local Kwikot water heater (geyser) manufacturing plant by an impressive 40%.

Ughard de Clercq, lean engineer at Electrolux South Africa said the organisation was expected to complete the development of a major 1 MW solar energy system at its Benoni factory by November 2021. The company has invested R16 million in the solar system which it started building in July 2021. 

“We plan to be climate neutral by 2030 in all our manufacturing operations. So far, we have implemented a 112 kWp solar system for our offices in 2020 and have saved over 96 tons of CO2 just this year. We expect that the 1 MW solar system will reduce our manufacturing CO2 footprint by 40%,” said de Clercq. Once completed, the solar system will comprise 1278 solar panels that will power the factory during the day, supplying as much as 80 to 90% of the plant’s energy requirements. The organisation also intended exploring the possibility of purchasing renewable energy from Eskom, to meet its night time electricity requirements when the parastatal is ready to offer privately produced green energy as an option said de Clercq.

“We did not develop more than one megawatt due to the roof space and current regulations limiting the amount of electricity generated via a solar system, but the government is looking to increase it,” he added. 

When limits were increased to 100MW or more, Electrolux would also investigate extending its solar system so that it could sell power back to the electricity grid. “If the local law and infrastructure allows it, we would want to sell the excess green electricity back into the grid. We would like to be able to make a contribution to other organisations by supplying them with green energy,” he said. Electrolux would likely also explore installing smaller solar energy systems at its geyser distribution centres around South Africa. 

“We plan in the next two to three years to start reducing the consumption of our fossil fuels by switching from diesel to electric forklifts that can be charged by our solar system,” said de Clercq.

“We are also investigating how to reduce our water consumption in the future by harvesting the rain water to reduce our environmental impact even further.” This latest investment in solar energy at its local factory was part of the organisation’s global strategy to achieve its ‘better living’ 2030 goal of zero carbon emissions, partially by using renewable energy in production. The investment also follows similar solar systems installed at the company’s plants in China, Thailand and Australia.

“We strive not only to manufacture sustainable products such as our appliances, but to manufacture them in a sustainable way. It is important to look after the environment and do our part for future generations to come,” commented Murray Crow, Electrolux South Africa’s Managing Director.

-- ENDS --

Distributed by EchoSquare on behalf of the WWF. For more information, please contact Kerry Webb at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 082 496 0713 

20 March 2015 – Shamwari Game Reserve, part of Shamwari Group, in conjunction with key partners - South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI-Electric Nissan Truck supplier), Powertech (ATV battery supplier), Tracker (Vehicle telematic equipment supplier) and Imperial Green Mobility (ATV fleet supplier) have unveiled their first electric safari vehicle, which is hoped to help make the safari experience greener and more sustainable and also support Shamwari Game Reserve’s anti-poaching initiatives.  

An electric Nissan truck and an electric vehicle platform provided by SANEDI, will be placed at Shamwari Game Reserve for use by the Conservation Experience Programme. This 20 seater truck will be used to host and transport students as part of Shamwari’s behind the scenes experiences, which expose guests to several management tasks and projects in conservation, wildlife, ecology and community incumbencies.   The ‘quads’, electric all-terrain vehicle platform provided by Imperial Green Mobility, will be used by the rhino anti-poaching programme and possibly a mobile film unit.  

The deployment of a dedicated car port housing a solar array at Shamwari will provide the ideal renewable source of energy for charging the vehicles and will provide a completely off-grid solution for a ‘green’ game reserve experience.   The multi industry partnership forms part of uYilo’s activities to pool together various companies and organisations towards introducing e-mobility and its technologies in to South Africa. The intent is to create awareness, test performance of EVs in different roles and determine the feasibly of e-Mobility for the safari industry.  

The research and development focus will be on the feasibility of developing a fully South African designed and engineered EV for the safari industry and its potential to champion several other rural industries.   Comments Joe Cloete, Group General Manager for Shamwari Group, “This is yet another remarkable initiative that helps us in our pursuit to conserve a vanishing way of life and be more self-sufficient whilst offering guests something truly unique. This type of support will be groundbreaking in the fight against poachers. The research and development will help in developing and testing the technology at Shamwari Game Reserve for the safari industry of the future. ”   

Convert has launched Convert TRJ KIT a ready-to use kite enable to rotates pgotovoltaic panels in according to the sun position along the whole of its daily East-West journey. Convert TRJ has been developed to maximize the economic energy efficiency of pv plants and it indeed increases the energy up to the 25% more than fixed systems.

The system has been conceived withe a single-axis, tilt° tracker which i s based on the movement on a single nort-south axis. In this way the panel is able to track the sun's position and oriented its surface optimally to reach the maximum irradiation. Moreover a back tracking system ensures that strings of panels don't shade other adiacent modules.

Thanks to a GPS bulit into the kit the system can track the exact position of the Sun in real time and coordinate it with other information as date and time and systems co-ordinate, so a constant and immediate exchange of data and information can ensure an accurate tracking of sun's position.In this way PV panels are optimally orianted at all times of the day without the need of any interventions or control.

Trj kit is also easy to install and fully compatible with all the most pv panels support on the market. Therefore the client doesn't need to buy a new whole system with a clear saving of both, money and also with a saving of pollution emissisons.

Convert South Africa LTD is a branch company fully controlled by Convert Italia Spa. Its offert to south african market includes pv project for better performance of solar fields, rural electrification with PV hybrid system and electrical power system engineering.Convert has decided to launched a branc company in South Africa because this is probably the most promising country in renewable development also for its geographical role of leader for neighoburough countries.

Contact:
Atherstone Bower,
77 King Edward Road
Lombardy East
Johannesburg,
2090 South Africa
Ph: +27 118815438

Top tips for saving and celebrating a greener Christmas 

Load shedding is a fact of life for the foreseeable future in South Africa and a little planning and creativity can alleviate a lot of the unpleasantness during the holidays. This is according to Evan Schiff, event director of the annual African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and expo in Cape Town.

He says furthermore that higher electricity prices in South Africa have become an increasing strain on consumers’ monthly expenses and that “Christmas is a great time to introduce energy saving habits into a household as many easy and simple changes in the way we live can end up putting extra money into your pocket.”

Practical tips to plan for and cope with load shedding this holiday:
•    Be prepared, keep a regular eye on websites with information on load shedding schedules and print these out.  http://www.loadshedding.eskom.co.za/
•    Create a Whatsapp group for your neighbourhood and keep each other informed.
•    Make sure that there are enough candles, matches, torches, batteries and so forth for load shedding periods after dark.
•    Be ready for it! Make sure all cellphones, tablets, laptops and toys are fully charged before the lights go out. This way you can keep the kids entertained with a movie, or at least be able to use the phone.
•    Have fun activities ready for when the lights are off such as board games and family time around the barbeque.
•    Keep a gas burner as a back-up in the kitchen to be able to heat water and do essential cooking.   

An energy efficient holiday season
“There are a variety of ways we can use a lot less electricity this holiday season”, says Schiff, “such as using LED* Christmas lights which use 90% less electricity than regular Christmas lights. Consider investing in solar powered outdoor lights which can also be used on the Christmas tree and only come on at night.”

He continues: “up to 40% of all batteries are purchased during the holiday season so try to buy toys and gifts that don't use electricity or batteries. Gifts made of recycled material are also a great environmentally friendly gesture.”

More handy energy saving tips for the holiday season:
•    Don’t use the tumble dryer unnecessarily – it is summer, so take advantage of solar powered drying.
•    Turn off the room lights when the Christmas tree lights are on.
•    Set a timer to Christmas and outdoor lights to limit the time they are on.
•    Create a romantic and intimate atmosphere by using candles instead of lights.
•    Enjoy the weather and celebrate the holidays outside with a braai instead of cooking on a stove!  Or enjoy cold meats and salads during this summer season – it’s healthier and saves on power.
•    If you’re going away, turn off/ the geyser, empty and unplug the refrigerator.Advice for improving energy efficiency in your home during the year:
•    Invest in a geyser blanket. Unless the geyser is properly insulated, switching it off does not save electricity.
•    Insulate the roof to make the house cooler in summer and warmer in winter and thereby saving on seasonal heating and cooling.•    Switch off appliances at the wall plug when not in use.
•    Replace CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) bulbs with LED.
•    Use cold water to do laundry, it saves electricity and is better for the clothes.

Gathering thousands of energy professionals
For the past 14 years, the African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and exhibition has helped to reduce the energy consumption of commercial and industrial large power users and has assisted in African utilities providing electricity and water to all of Africa. The event brings together thousands of utility professionals from across the globe to learn, share knowledge and debate the key topics that will secure the future development of Africa’s power industry. These include energy efficiency, improved service delivery, renewable energy, collaboration across the continent and investment in new power projects. South Africa’s state utility Eskom has been a key partner for many years.

The 15th edition of African Utility Week is expected to again attract more than 5000 attendees and feature 250 exhibitors, 190 speakers, eight conferences, free technical workshops on the expo floor, three high-profile plenary sessions and the coveted industry awards gala dinner. Stakeholders from across the industry and continent are represented, from Ministers of Energy through to power and water utilities, municipalities and regulators to investors and technology and service providers.  

Attending the African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa exhibition is free when registering in advance and it showcases energy saving technologies and services for the industry and features hands-on demonstrations and workshops on the exhibition floor.

*LED=light-emitting diodes

Eskom’s 49M campaign encourages all South Africans to take the 49M pledge to save at least 10% electricity.  http://www.49m.co.za

African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa are organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.

The dates for next year’s African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa are:  
Exhibition & Conference: 12-14 May 2015
Industry awards: 13 May 2015
Site Visits: 15 May 2015
Location:  CTICC, Cape Town
Website:  www.african-utility-week.com, www.clean-power-africa.com 

Contact for interviews:
Event director: Evan Schiff
Mobile: +27 83 415 3534
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.african-utility-week.com/pages/detail/15725

{pp}The Green Building Conference and Exhibition will again welcome property owners, regulators, built environment professionals, academics and representatives from all facets of the construction industry as delegates to the conference and visitors to the exhibition, which will open to all consumers for the full two days.

{pp}The Green Building Conference and Exhibition will again welcome property owners, regulators, built environment professionals, academics and representatives from all facets of the construction industry as delegates to the conference and visitors to the exhibition, which will open to all consumers for the full two days.

{pp}Green building has grown over the year’s from strength to strength as property owners, investors, blue chip tenants (public and private) have realised the importance and the possibilities of building for a sustainable future.

At this year’s Green Building Conference, high-levelled local and international professional speakers from different sectors will be sharing their knowledge and experience of ‘green’ building.

{pp}The Natural and Organic Exhibition held their expo at the CTICC this year with a, according to reports, over 30% increase in visitor attendance. The venue was filled to the brim with ‘green’ products and services ranging from a variety of sectors, including shopping centres, beauty products and fashion items. What excited us was that amongst all the natural and organic products and services on display, where friendly faces from the built environment, including; solar technologies, low VOC paints and waste water management systems.

{pp}Green Building Media has installed a video component to their website, expanding the multimedia experience to the built environment in South Africa, involved in green building.

Currently they are streaming in podcasts globally and are hoping to expand their selection to cover conferences and events, with speakers and experts presenting useful information on green techniques, designs, construction, and materials and products that are environmentally friendly.