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Iintelligent technology is being installed in residences and businesses that will allow consumers to manage their use, and City Power to monitor problems.
JOBURG’S electricity supply is becoming intelligent. In the near future, Smart Meter technology will be rolled out by City Power, making the city very clever indeed.
Sicelo Xulu says Joburg is to become a smart city
A system of smart metering is being put in place across Joburg suburbs. The idea is that the meter will encourage households and businesses to use electricity wisely, particularly during peak times, thus allowing City Power to manage the demand-side aspect of its business.
City Power will also be able to read meters remotely, and will allow consumers to log into a website and monitor their consumption, thus moderating use according to on- and off-peak consumption. This technology has already been rolled out for business customers and the intention is to extend similar smart technology to domestic customers as well.
Another advantage is that when a problem arises with the network – like an outage or someone tampering with it – City Power will be alerted immediately, and will take action. Each meter has its own alarm system, so if anyone tampers with it, an SMS is immediately sent to City Power.
At present, 8 600 instances of the AMR (Automated Meter Reading) technology have been installed for business customers and 53 000 for domestic customers in Roodepoort and Alexandra.
Over 100 000 split pre-paid meters have already been installed. “We are now focusing on converting the customers that are being estimated as a result of their properties being inaccessible for one reason or another, making it difficult for our meter readers to read the meters, and those that have bypassed their meters and are consuming electricity illegally,” explains Xulu.
Some R290-million has been spent over the past seven years on the new meter installations and conversion to prepaid and AMR. A further R200-million a year will be spent in converting meters to the intelligent metering system for all customers.
“Some of the states in the US, France and Brazil have gone this route – it’s the way to go,” states Xulu.
In similar vein, City Power has recently upgraded some parts of its high-voltage transmission network as one of its flagship projects. The transmission line is required to transmit bulk electricity over longer distances at higher voltages – 88 000 volts to 275 000 volts on City Power’s transmission network.
“It is one of a kind in Africa. It is a great achievement,” says Xulu proudly. “This upgrade has been done in a live condition, which means that as the power was on, the upgrade was being conducted. It’s the best economical way in which transmission lines can be upgraded without inconveniencing the customer.” The programme is continuing until the critical transmission lines are completed.
Xulu also proudly recites City Power’s other achievements over the past several years.
ISO accreditation
In February 2009, it was certified and accredited by the South African Bureau of Standards for meeting the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 18001:2007, with the continued effort to acquire an integrated ISO system. City Power achieved ISO 9001:2008 accreditation, certified in June 2010.
Xulu says City Power is striving to maintain that accreditation.
The ISO monitors and awards organisations accredited for achieving international standards across sectors. “We have achieved a lot with the ISO accreditation, for the safety of the environment and personnel.”
He adds: “City Power is a world-class electricity distributor, therefore the ISO accreditation and certification is the platform where City Power is appropriately benchmarked in its policies and its vision.”
Its management and employees have committed to adhere and conform to the requirements of these international standards and guidelines to ensure the quality of its service is not compromised and continues to improve.
Xulu, who started working for Eskom in 1994 as a trainee before moving to City Power in 2002, describes the utility as “a very exciting environment”, and says that the vision for City Power is to create “a world-class electricity distributor”.
“We are the major player in economic development for Joburg and the country. The New Growth Path as proposed by [the national] government largely depends on the availability and reliability of electricity supply,” he adds.
Power outages
Regarding the question all South Africans are concerned about – power outages – Xulu’s approach is pragmatic and sympathetic to users.
“We strive to reduce outages. The level is not acceptable; we continue to do more. We want to raise the bar all the time, and should not be complacent,” he explains.
The rapid urbanisation and development of Joburg mean that demand is high and City Power is under constant pressure to deliver electricity. To remain on top of the challenges, the utility has refurbished and built 33 substations over the past five years, stretching from Midrand in the north to Pennyville and Lenasia in the south.
“It has been a lot of hard work and we have struggled to keep up but we have to provide for contingency,” stresses Xulu.
Because City Power buys power from the national supplier, Eskom, load shedding – the temporary switching off of power to balance demand and supply – is sometimes out of its hands. However, there are interventions that have been put in place to mitigate against the risk of load shedding.
For example, four gas turbines in the CBD have been refurbished as a back-up electricity supply. The turbines burn diesel to make electricity.
City Power has also installed over 100 000 ripple controllers for geysers across Johannesburg. This means that it can switch the geysers off when the system is under pressure, another example of intelligent technology.
Planned outages
Planned outages can be expected when infrastructure needs maintenance. But unplanned outages caused by theft, adverse weather like heavy rains or lightning, and the breakdown of old infrastructure, cannot always be avoided.
“It is undesirable but we can’t run an outage-free service,” he says.
Cable theft is still a big problem but City Power works closely with Eskom and the police and the Hawks to combat the crime. “It is a big problem, a national problem. So we have to work together to combat theft.”
He emphasises that residents need to save electricity in whatever way they can, either by switching off their geysers when not in use, or by running their washing machines or doing the ironing in off-peak times. Peak times are Mondays to Fridays from 6am to 10am and 6pm to 8pm; any other times are off-peak times.
Backlog of connections
Xulu admits that there is a backlog of connections, especially in new areas that have no infrastructure.
“We allow development where there is adequate capacity or where our upgrades are nearing completion and capacity will be available soon but we are very cautious not to compromise the network integrity and service to existing customers.”
He describes this as “a moving target”, where demand grows constantly, making it very difficult to keep up with supply. And the challenge is to supply bulk infrastructure, a costly and time-consuming undertaking.
This has meant that developers have had to re-think their demands for electricity, forcing them to be more energy efficient in their housing or business developments. “We are encouraging developers to start thinking outside the box, and put demand-side measures in place. We are moving towards non-negotiable energy efficiency.”
Xulu sees energy efficiency in broader terms – that of contributing to the challenges of growth of Africa.
On the upside, suburbs like Alexandra Ext 9 and Pennyville, which were previously without electricity, are now connected. Public lighting is also being rolled out – some parts of Soweto have no street lights, but progress is being made to light up all Sowetans’ lives.
“We want to meet and exceed customers’ expectations. This means taking hard decisions and being firm.”
Acting MD
Xulu has been in his post since November 2010, and will continue as acting managing director until September this year. “I am applying myself fully,” he says. “I want to make a discernible and positive difference to the organisation during my tenure.” He has held various positions in the utility: general manager of capital execution, acting director of engineering services, and later full director.
“I am familiar with the issues and am building on a good foundation. I have been part of the decisions taken and so am not starting afresh.”
He has improved his qualifications along the way, from a BTech degree in electrical engineering to a BSc honours, and now he has applied to complete an MSc at Wits University. Before leaving Eskom he had worked his way up to maintenance manager specialist.
“I am looking forward to the rest of the year,” he says, adding that his work is “challenging but very exciting”.
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