Geyser Controllers Could Reduce Load-Shedding in South Africa

South Africa has the potential to alleviate up to five stages of load-shedding if households install small geyser controllers that switch off these power-hungry appliances during high-demand periods. This analysis comes from Dr. Adriaan Davidse, a director and management consultant at Deloitte, who shared his insights with Sunday newspaper Rapport.

In South Africa, there are approximately 6 million geysers, with 1 to 2 million typically active at any given time. If all 6 million were simultaneously switched on, they would consume 20,000 MW of electricity. By comparison, Eskom's generating capacity in recent days has hovered around 29,000 MW, with the Koeberg nuclear power plant, one of its most reliable stations, producing roughly 2,000 MW at maximum output. This means that geysers in South African homes have the potential to consume the same amount of power as ten Koeberg power stations.

According to Dr. Davidse, turning off geysers during high-demand periods could reduce Eskom's rotational power cuts by three to five stages. To achieve this goal, Dr. Davidse has brought together several small businesses under the Ubuntu Power Alliance to develop a device about the size of a chocolate slab. They anticipate that this device could be ready for implementation within 12 weeks.

The technology underlying the device has already been successfully used in Germany, Dr. Davidse informed Rapport. While some may be concerned about the prospect of not having warm water, Dr. Davidse argued that most households would barely notice if their geysers were switched off during high-demand periods. The controllers could be configured to heat water during the afternoons when solar generation is at its peak.

Dr. Davidse expressed skepticism about Eskom's load-limiting project, which recently began a limited trial for select Eskom Direct residents in Fourways. This project utilizes smart meters to measure users' power consumption. An hour before an area is scheduled for load-shedding, households receive SMS notifications and can only use up to 10 Amps of power instead of the regular 60/80 Amps. However, geysers and other power-intensive appliances must be manually switched off during load limiting to ensure the power draw remains below the limit. Failure to do so will result in Eskom cutting off supply until the current draw is lowered.

Load-limiting not only provides power to essential household appliances but also enables street and traffic lights to remain operational during load-shedding. Some residents in housing estates included in the load-limiting program have confirmed that their homes have not experienced full load-shedding since its implementation.

While Eskom plans to expand load-limiting nationally if the pilot project succeeds, Dr. Davidse estimates that geyser controllers would cost only 10-20% of a smart meter and could be rolled out nationwide within a year with collaboration from the necessary stakeholders. He suggests offering customers the choice to install the device, but if they opt not to, the power distributor could install it on their side of the electricity meter, resulting in a complete power cut-off during high-demand periods.

A similar geyser-controlling system is already in place in Midstream Estate near Centurion. However, residents have experienced issues where their geysers have remained off due to oversight by the control room, leading to delays in the electricity distributor correcting the error.

The implementation of small geyser controllers has the potential to significantly reduce load-shedding stages in South Africa while ensuring the smooth functioning of essential appliances and infrastructure during high-demand periods.