With frequent load-shedding adversely affecting business operations throughout South Africa, in addition to the many other ill-effects it causes countrywide, ACTOM Turbo Machines set out to replace its traditional source of electricity supply with self-generated solar power to ensure continuity of operations at its Sasolburg premises.
ACTOM Turbo is the first division in the ACTOM group to switch entirely to self-generated renewable energy as power source.
In March this year the division contracted a reputable local supplier of PV solar systems to supply and install solar panels on the roofs of its two workshops to meet all its power requirements at the site, in place of the municipality-supplied power it had been reliant on until then.
As with most businesses faced with the high incidence of load-shedding, which has become an unwelcome new norm, ACTOM Turbo had long since acquired diesel-powered generators to produce backup power for its works during load-shedding. Now, since the solar system went into operation at the end of April, the division only uses municipal supply, along with its generators when load-shedding occurs, to a very limited extent and at a fraction of the cost it previously had to pay for them.
“We don’t have battery bank backup for storage of our solar-generated power, so we draw on municipal supply at the beginning of each working day for the initial feed to get the solar system going. We also need it when we have to work at night and on rainy and cloudy days when the solar system can’t supply sufficient power to meet our needs,” explained Niel Fourie, ACTOM Turbo’s SHEQ Manager, who manages the day-to-day operation of the solar system.
Chris Bezuidenhout, Divisional CEO of the division, said: “We are proud to be the first in the group to switch over to renewable energy to power our operations. Apart from the fact that it means a 60% saving in expenditure on electricity supply every month compared with the traditional power sources, it ensures that we contribute in our own small way towards reducing the global carbon footprint, which is causing so much damage to the planet and threatening the future existence of everyone and everything on it.”
