As the South African population, economy and demand on the national grid continue to grow, and no new power stations under construction, load shedding is likely here to stay in the medium term. Jessica Masina, Field Product Marketing Manager at Eaton looks at how property owners need to review their emergency energy systems to make more efficient use of their available energy.

With National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) recently approving a structure for the implementation of load shedding up to Stage 16 (shutdown of 80% of the country’s available capacity at a given time), South Africans need to consider their emergency power infrastructure much more seriously.

Individual homeowners and organisations alike may need to consider more resilient uninterruptable power supply (UPS) solutions with smart capabilities and higher capacity to ensure the functionality of critical devices and appliances during power outages.

Home essentials

While most homes can go a few hours without power, using candles, generators, gas stoves or solar powered lamps, some may want a solid power source for certain essentials.

People living in high-risk areas, for instance, may need to power outside lights and security systems. Those who work from home or run businesses from home, managing sensitive work data, may need to ensure their routers and computers are always up-and-running.

Terminally ill people living at home and using oxygen machines or refrigerated medicines may need an additional layer of uninterruptable power when expensive diesel generators are not available. Additionally, in apartment complexes, IPM (Intelligent Power Manager) enables centralised monitoring and control of power devices like uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), ensuring system uptime and data integrity through remote management features. With capabilities such as auto discovery, email notifications, and mass node-settings configuration, IPM simplifies the management of multiple devices.

Information technology

In an increasingly digitise world, information technology is being trusted with more of our lives every day, including apps linked to emergency services, like vehicle tracking services, home (school or business) CCTV systems, financial services, communication platforms and more. Not only could a sudden interruption leave people feeling isolated, but improper shutdown of services could lead to corrupted information and even data loss.

Health and medical

One of the most vulnerable sectors of society is the healthcare industry, where life support machines, surgery facilities and refrigeration units for organs, medicines and tools cannot afford to be without power. Even the smallest clinics in rural areas should be equipped with enough backup power to ensure that they can deal with any health emergency that may arise and ensure that lives can we saved, as every minute lost could make all the difference. In critical healthcare settings, Eaton's Intelligent Power Manager (IPM) is relied upon to sustain uninterrupted power to medical equipment. It includes graceful shutdown of compatible storage, power capping of servers, and event-based automation, all essential for maintaining operational stability. Additionally, IPM offers graphical automation wizards that simplify complex tasks, ensuring ease of use.

Business

While certain businesses may have to forgo certain equipment during load shedding, should they not have access to expensive generators, like energy intensive fryers, but most should be able to continue trading with working point of sale terminals, fridges, computers and lights.

Automated solutions

Older models of UPS systems may have worked under normal circumstances, newer models using intelligent power management software allow property managers to remotely monitor their facilities. They can now easily see detailed live data on power consumption, input and output, fault detection and receive email notification should there be an overload anywhere in the system. They are also more energy efficient, providing advanced protection for switches, routers, modems, IP-cameras, and demanding IoT applications, at least until a more stable power source is available or systems are shutdown properly.

Users can setup their systems to shut down non-critical appliances, prioritising only the essentials, even when not on loadshedding. For instance, after business hours, the system may be set up to cut power to certain areas until the beginning of the next business day.

All indications are that load shedding is here to stay, at least for the next few years, as old power stations continue to age and some are even decommissioned, but with the right strategy in place, homes and businesses can equip themselves to not only have enough backup power at the worst times, but also use energy smarter, alleviating the burden on the national grid and the environment.