South Africa’s corporate sector faces a significant challenge in terms of power supply in the light of Eskom’s constant requests for energy users to reduce consumption – coupled with reduced production and ordered blackouts.

This is the view of Manie de Waal, head of sales at Energy Partners who adds that together with affecting national development, Eskom’s current inability to deliver uninterrupted power has a detrimental impact on companies’ annual earnings.

“The full financial effect of load shedding is often hidden as it is ‘revenue not earned’ as opposed to actual financial losses. In 2008 the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) reported that it had cost the country’s economy a staggering R15 billion,” he goes onto explain, adding that alternative energy sources must be used strategically to minimise costs.

The challenge to this point is however two-fold. Firstly renewable energy is irregular as it depends heavily on external sources, and secondly, storage technology is expensive in South Africa.

“Typically renewable sources do not form the base-load, but are specified according to the site, which means it hardly ever supplies 100% of power on site. This means that even in energy efficient buildings, a portion of the energy will come from Eskom, which leaves the site exposed in the event of a blackout. It is thus imperative to work with an energy partner that can customise your solution to meet specific needs at the most affordable cost,” outlines de Waal.

“In order to reduce reliance on Eskom for energy requirements, business owners should ask a reliable energy efficiency partner to conduct an energy audit to ensure that energy processes and solutions can be implemented for optimal efficiency. This is particularly important for businesses that rely heavily on electricity for key processes such as manufacture, agriculture and mining,” he maintains.