ENERGY
Lighting up South African lives Economic development depends heavily on functional electrical infrastructure. Alongside the demands of growing populations and the need to improve energy-use efficiencies, South African municipalities additionally need to balance maintenance requirements. LESEDI Lesedi Local Municipality’s electricity supply network consists of medium-voltage (MV) and low-tension (LT) overhead and underground electrical networks, with the MV overhead network being approximately 82 km in length and the MV underground network around 100 km long. The LT overhead network is approximately 200 km long, while the LT underground network is some 82 km in length. The municipality’s network has six feeding points from Eskom. The voltage of the vast majority of the electrical network is 11 kV, except for KwaZenzele and Impumelelo, which run at 22 kV. Lesedi has 90 MVA in
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REBIRTH OF THE VAAL
capacity, of which approximately 50% is classified as spare capacity. Like municipalities across the country, Lesedi is implementing various measures to reduce electric consumption within its municipal area.
Energy-saving programme Lesedi Local Municipality has developed an energy-saving programme in line with national government’s target of saving 10% of electrical usage by municipalities. It has implemented various measures to reduce consumption. Lesedi has initiated ripple control over some 4 000 streetlights, which sees these lamps switching on at 19:00 and
off at 05:00, which ensures areas are lit when needed but saves significantly on energy usage – in this case, to the tune of around 60 000 kWh per month. Geysers are also controlled through the same load management practice, ensuring they are not needlessly drawing power. Similarly, Lesedi’s municipal offices’ air conditioners are switched off using timer switches, while the municipality has also ensured the installation of light sensors, which signal the lights to turn on when someone enters an office and then turn off after a certain period when no foot traffic is detected. The lights of the municipal building are also controlled by timer switches. Communication about saving electricity is vital to the meaningful wider adoption of responsible practices, so the municipality uses its consumers’ accounts and the local newspaper to educate its residents about various ways of saving electricity. In terms of service delivery, the installation of free solar geysers is currently pursued in Lesedi to alleviate poverty and to reduce the usage of electricity in the area, while the council also plans to install LED streetlights around the municipal area, as and when
