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Opening speech by AMEU president
by Michael J Rhode, AMEU President
 Of cause the challenges we face today are very different from those in 1989. Just to mention a few: shortage of supply; shortage of funding; lack of skills; copper and energy theft; universal access... (more)
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Keynote address at the AMEU Convention 2011
by Dr. Wolsey Barnard on behalf of the minister of Energy
 The country supply side is being put on a low carbon emission path, via renewable energy, nuclear energy, and other technologies such as carbon capturing. But it is impossible to consider the security of supply situation without critically addressing the problems facing the electricity distribution network, particularly municipal infrastructure... (more)
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Welcome address to 23rd AMEU Technical Convention from City of Cape Town
by Councillor Shehaam Sims, mayoral committee member: utility service
The theme of your convention, "Surviving the energy challenges: how technology can support us", is most appropriate in these times when we are confronted with so many uncertainties and challenges that tend to make one hesitant in what we need to undertake... (more)
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Honorary membership awards
by Peter Fowles
Deon Louw is a very special man in the history of our organisation. Hannes Roos is registered with ECSA as Pr (Tech) Eng. Sy Gourrah - I met her when we were sitting and waiting for our employment interviews in September 2001... (more) |
The Indian distribution review, upgradation and management (DRUM) project
by R A J Frantz and R S Wallis, Phambili Merz and McLellan, and S Shafiq and V Gupta, Mott MacDonald
This paper presents an initiative in India undertaken to improve distribution services in conditions not dissimilar, probably worse, to that prevailing in SA.The information presented in this section is merely to put the Indian electricity supply industry in context against the South African industry that we are familiar with... (more)
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Benoni Township normalisation: a case study
by Bosaletse Joseph Mpesi, Eskom
The Benoni/Nigel Township Electrical Network Normalisation Project was initiated to improve safety, network performance and the quality of supply. The project also addressed issues of non-technical losses by using split metering technology... (more) |
EDI restructuring: the legacy, the lessons and the future
by Dr. W de Beer and N Waters
Two years have passed since it became evident that restructuring the EDI was unlikely without a constitutional change. Eight years have passed since the establishment of EDI Holdings. And over 20 years have passed since the idea of restructuring the EDI was first raised and debated by industry stakeholders... ( more) |
Condition monitoring of equipment to improve quality of supply
by Patrick O'Halloran, City Power
The results obtained from performing condition monitoring on equipment before the World Cup Soccer 2010 tournament was estimated to have saved City Power R85-million in failures that were averted. Many of these failures would have occurred and this would not have been good for City Power or South Africa. (more)
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Electricity distribution infrastructure master data governance using the Masterkey tool
by C Plüddemann, City of Cape Town Electricity Distribution
In a complex, distributed technical asset environment it is impossible to make sound management decisions without knowing exactly what equipment you have, where it is installed, what condition it is in and what its maintenance history is... (more) |
Challenges facing protective relay engineers in modern times
by Alexander Dierks, Alectrix
Protective relays can be up to 50 years old. with the constant expansion and growth within our networks, such old substations often need to be extended and it is not uncommon to find the latest technology introduced in these same substations... (more) |
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Energy sustainability in Asia: lessons for Africa?
by R Millard, PB Power, M J Emmerton, PB Power Energy Strategy Consulting
This paper considers the strategic direction embraced by the electricity industry in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam to get on to a sustainable energy path over the next two decades, including the policy tools and financing mechanisms being adopted to get there... ( more) |
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Sustainable energy provision for SA cities?
by Mark Borchers, Sustainable Energy Africa
This paper describes some of the challenges and points to key areas of action for municipalities. It draws extensively on analysis done for the City of Cape Town, where a more detailed level of information has become available, but attempts to be applicable to all cities in South Africa... (more) |
Eskom Integrated Demand Management
by Andrew Etzinger, Eskom
An overview of the electricity supply-demand situation and the demand-side measures to deal with expected system constraints is provided. A closer working relationship between the DSM function of municipalities and that of Eskom is proposed to ensure that the national resources available are used to optimal effect... ( more) |
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SA's virtual power station - 800 MW and counting
by Rob Surtees and Deborah Blane, Enerweb
Eskom introduced its first large-scale demand response initiative in 2007 in the form of the now well known demand market participation initiative and coined the virtual power station (VPS) terminology. Almost five years later and with over 800 MW of "dispatchable NegaWatts" available, the VPS continues to grow... (more) |
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Energy, efficiency, tariffs and new technology - what are the links?
by Dr. William G H Dykman, UMS
As far as energy is concerned the first world community primarily made use of electricity for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. However, electricity stayed "cheap" and nothing really dampened the increasing consumption of this commodity... ( more) |
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LED street lighting of residential areas - the economical option for local authorities
by D Kasper and J Schleritzko, Beka
For some years the LED light source has been the centre of R&D to improve its luminous efficacy and reduce its cost. Technical improvements have brought better luminous efficacy; high reliability; good colour rendering; and a range of colour temperatures, which makes the LED light source suitable for all applications... ( more) |
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Ekurhuleni: online meter monitoring, feedback for revenue, demand management
by Stephen Delport, City of Ekurhuleni
Metering-online is an internet-based AMR system that provides a unique operational tool to manage metering services and billing information for utilities, municipalities or individual commercial and industrial users... ( more) |
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Advantages of utilising vendor independent automated meter reading systems
by G C van der Merwe, Powertech IST Otokon
Living in an era where revenue protection, timely availability of valid data and auditable processes are some of the buzz phrases, the method of obtaining data and displaying it on a high level needs to be evaluated and tested to be future proof and make a real contribution to the bottom line... ( more) |
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Does the new Swistra ripple control protocol supersede bi-directional communication?
by Adrian Toller, Gerd Höpfner, Swistec, and Ian Robinson, Robmet Meters
To facilitate the introduction of time-of-use meters Swistec has introduced a new ripple control protocol. This protocol allows using ripple control for new tasks like remote programming of receivers, addressing and controlling individual receivers and sending out text messages to customers' in-house displays... ( more) |
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Smart meter project implementation and rollout - lessons learnt
by Imran Mohamed, Itron
Among the main drivers for smart metering in Europe are the Energy Services Directives. Article 13(1) of the ESD demands that member states ensure that final customers are provided with competitively priced individual meters that accurately reflect consumption and provide information on the actual time of use... ( more) |
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Effective revenue recovery: service delivery that pays
by Shane van Jaarsveldt, Power Process Systems
Power Process Systems has a method of ensuring revenue recovery through managed service delivery of electricity. This method is a holistic solution that encompasses both "pay for services" and "capacity (demand side) management" through effective application of secure, low cost remote metering and management... ( more) |
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Using low cost mobile phone technology to enhance operational effectiveness
by Rudi Leitner, Touchwork
Given the dramatic advances in ICT technology, it is time for utilities to re-examine how they support their field operations, and many utilities are starting to investigate and in some cases implement mobile computing and wireless workforce management (WFM) solutions... ( more) |
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Wheeling of energy-enabling mechanisms in the current environment
by S D Salvoldi, Eskom
Wheeling of energy occurs when a non-utility owned generator
sells the energy it produces directly to a third party consumer and not to the utility. There is no physical network connection between the buyer and the seller, so electrical energy is not directly transmitted between the two parties... (more) |
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Strategic direction for Eskom's retail tariffs - 2011 onwards
by D Conradie and S Salvoldi, Eskom
This paper sets out the broad direction for Eskom's retail tariff structures over the next few years to provide stakeholders with a view of Eskom's proposed direction for tariff structures in the coming years... (more) |
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Live-line transmission lines upgrade projects: "First in Africa" project
by Patrick O'Halloran, City Power
City Power Johannesburg has an internal 88 kV transmission network which is now roughly 65 years old. The condition of this transmission network has become unreliable, and based on age should actually be replaced. Due to financial constraints this is not an option and other solutions had to be considered... ( more) |
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Simplified network feeder reliability modelling for management decision making
by Martin Cameron, EON Consulting and Dr. Clinton Carter-Brown, Eskom
This paper focuses on illustrating the application of a simplified reliability centred approach to inform strategic and tactical engineering management decision making for a large scale electrical medium voltage feeder network... ( more) |
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The impact of plug-in electric vehicles on distribution networks
by G Brand and J Roesch, NETGroup SA
The current market penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) is limited but is expected to grow rapidly. As electricity is one of the least expensive transportation fuels, significant deployment will potentially introduce substantial demands on power distribution networks... ( more) |
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Mobile technology for electricity field services personnel
by Marthinus van der Merwe, City of Cape Town Electricity
This paper discusses some of the initial challenges encountered when using mobile technology to manage fault reporting by the public, and highlights future considerations for mobile applications at the electricity department... (more) |
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Mobile solutions for cost effectively capturing electrical assets of municipalities
by R Rajakanthan, Ciber Terrasoft; B McLaren and G J Mafrika, Eskom; and J Forson, Forson Consulting
The electricity distribution grid is suffering from a lack of investment and recapitalisation of its ageing infrastructure, resulting in an industry in crisis. "Asset Management (AM) is a process of maintaining asset performance at a required level of service while minimising total life cycle cost"... (more) |
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Transformer re-designs in modern economic times
by D W Hayes, Rotek Engineering
Transformers are a critical part of any power supply system and although inherently reliable and longlived, they can represent a significant cost when circumstances dictate their replacement. Re-design and refurbishment can offer a cost-effective alternative to simple replacement... (more) |
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