Business Enquirer Issue 114 | LTM Energy | June'23

ENRICHING AFRICA!

LTM ENERGY

ENRICHING AFRICA!

The sustainability engineering company supporting the green transition across Africa

LTM ENERGY PROJECT

DIRECTED BY: JAMIE

WAITE ARTICLE

WRITTEN

BY:

LAURA WATLING

According to the African Development Bank, more than 640 million people across Africa are without electricity.

Africa’s 48 Sub-saharan countries collectively reach just 68 gigawatts in installed generation capacity, with as much as one quarter of that unavailable due to aging plants and poor maintenance.

Countries across Africa are consistently facing power outages, with the economic cost amounting to more than 2% of a country’s GDP. South Africa alone saw more than 200 days of power cuts in 2022, with fears that if the crisis continues at the current rate, less than 40% of African countries will reach universal access to electricity by 2050.

One of the solutions considered instrumental in the curing of Africa’s energy crisis is implementing a full package of sustainability measures.

South African based LTM Energy Group are working at the forefront of bringing a multi-disciplined strategy of measures to businesses (and beyond) to ensure energy and water becomes accessible to all.

“South Africa is struggling to meet energy demands, but with challenge comes opportunity,” explained LTM Energy CEO, Dhevan Pillay, when speaking to Business Enquirer. “Energy security, network risk and compliance to decarbonisation are all compelling drivers for our corporate customers which make our package of measures appealing”.

Clean Energy and Water for All

LTM Energy is a multiple international award-winning company which pride themselves in using smart technologies and processes to improve people’s lives whilst saving the planet.

Developed in-house, LTM Energy recently introduced its latest version of its Enhanced Smart Utility Management System (eSUMS), helping companies not only reduce their utility costs but also boost their climate change mitigation contribution. Used by LTM Energy clients across 19 different countries in Africa for greenhousegas reporting, carbon tax compliance and science-based target setting, eSUMS has also saved companies millions.

“In the wake of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the undeniable risks posed by climate change, organisations need to measure impacts and disclose their total carbon footprint. It is wisest to consolidate their efforts using one system that is already measuring utility data,” says the LTM Energy CEO.

Real-time monitoring is coupled with control functionality, while LTM Energy engineers perform value engineering services on data

obtained from the system’s user-friendly dashboards.

Additionally, algorithms used in the various modules, such as the carbon module, allow for automated processing without any human interface, which can limit errors and improve reporting accuracy.

In addition, it has several subsidiaries working to support Africa’s green energy transition: Alliance Energy, LTM Sustainability consulting, Green Investment Corporation, Distributed Renewable Assets, Mesure, and Hydropower Generation.

LTM Energy Group, which has a team of national multi-disciplinary engineers and project managers, is on a mission to accelerate customer’s renewable energy and ESG strategies via five pillars:

Energy Management; Water Management; Renewable Energy; Off-Grid Sanitation; and Alternative Forms of Cleaner Energy

(such as gas and conduit hydro).

Whilst the business mostly supports the industrial, commercial, and mining sectors, it has recently stepped into supporting the residential sphere.

“Our vision is to ensure access to clean energy and water for all,” said Dhevan.

Enriching Lives

LTM Energy is the first company of its kind in Africa to recognise conduit hydropower as a suitable renewable energy source.

Conduit hydropower generally uses existing water pipelines, tunnels, canals and aqueducts to produce power via water turbines.

Dhevan considers this energy source an opportunity moving forward.

“Conduit hydropower is harnessing wasted energy, and it offers phenomenal cost savings,” he shared “it costs around 50 cents per kilowatt per hour, about a third of the current utility price”.

The CEO and his team are working on many innovative projects, pushing the boundaries of sustainable engineering. This includes research and development in fuel cells and vanadium for better storage and Quadgeneration as a base load source of power to mitigate energy security risks

“Advancing from Cogeneration and Trigeneration, Quadgeneration also includes carbon capture. It offers the next level in harvesting CO2 whilst meeting energy, heating and cooling needs,” explained Dhevan.

Working alongside international partners such as Tata, Coca Cola Bottling South Africa (CCBSA) and The Gates Foundation, LTM Energy have developed several projects to support communities in Africa in need of vital energy, water and sanitation solutions.

Project SICAS (Sustainability in Communities and Schools) includes LTM Energy’s work with CCBSA on the awardwinning CokeVille project.

Launched in 2019, the ground-breaking project is an off-grid, solar-powered

groundwater harvesting and treatment programme — targeting communities experiencing water insecurity.

“The aim is to roll out Project SICAS across Africa, enabling us to positively impact the quality of life for even more people. The impacts we are having on communities spans far beyond the implementation of sustainable energy,” explained Dhevan, “by facilitating clean energy and clean water, communities are able to improve their farming and agriculture, it’s going full circle”.

Working with commercial businesses, Programme CERO (Corporate Employee Roll Out) offers green energy solutions to businesses in a structured programme of measures.

Supporting employees of partners such as CCBSA, LTM Energy provides them with green solutions and methodology in energy efficiency.

Innovate, Innovate, Innovate

The CEO foresees some major technological disruptors on the horizon for sustainable energy, particularly with the rise and rise of IoT and AI.

“Let’s take Nokia as an example,” said Dhevan, “technology has changed so dramatically since the release of the first Nokia mobile phone - now, we all use Android and iOS. This is synonymous with how I see the rapid development of the energy sector through technology”.

Dhevan believes that the industry needs to embrace the future disruptive technologies, whilst ensuring it is combined with human spirit and intervention.

“LTM Energy can provide funding for a no-brainer, turn-key, clean energy and water solution with a compelling value proposition. But, above all, everyone should have dignity and access to the essentials,” the CEO concluded.

www.ltmenergy.co.za