Report back on "Your Energy War Room” webinar

Synopsis

Prior to 1998, Eskom supply was South Africa’s cheapest most stable source of power. Today, we are a country in crisis, thrown into energy insecurity and spiralling costs.

For investors, electricity decarbonisation and security of supply are increasingly being scrutinised as leading investment indicators. For customers, the pass-through impact of energy costs on product prices is pushing customers to consider alternatives. This is significantly impacting the competitive positioning and sustainability of businesses.

The average South African business today is bracing for Eskom price increases on 1 April 2023 and incurring more costs from backup diesel generators. Many are going into “war room” mode in an attempt to come up with solutions to mitigate the impacts of the crisis.

In true South African style, the private sector and customers of electricity has stepped up to develop an array of solutions to mitigate the impact of the current crisis. 

This webinar will be presented by business leaders representing the most impactful options to consider in your “energy war room”. This will assist you to navigate the financial and technology-based solutions, including wheeled green power supply, embedded generation, smart load control systems, and industrial-scale battery systems.

These provide options to supplement your Eskom coal-based supply with green energy, and hedge your power price, offset your grid-based demand, reduce your demand charges, and utilise industrial scale batteries to buffer out loadshedding and provide energy arbitrage solutions.

These solutions are being embraced by leading businesses in South Africa today to improve their competitive positioning and ensure their company’s sustainable future.

 Proceedings

After opening the webinar and some words of housekeeping, Chris Yelland gave some context and background to the subject at hand.

Chris Yelland then introduced the presenters, who each gave 20-minute presentations:

• Jenna Harris, CEO, Apollo Africa
• Roger Hislop, Energy Management Systems Executive, CBI :energy
• Ben Snyman, Chief Business Development Officer, Terra Firma Solutions
• James Verster, CEO, Blue Nova

This was followed by a 20-minute open discussion and Q & A session moderated by Chris Yelland.

Audio/video recording of the webinar

Audio/video recording of the webinar

Tip: To jump to selected content in the video, or to search for anything mentioned at the webinar, click on the “Up Arrow” at the bottom of the video.

Presentations at the webinar

Presentation by Jenna Harris, Apollo Africa
Presentation by Roger Hislop, CBI :energy
Presentation by Ben Snyman, Terra Firma Solutions
Presentation by James Verster, Blue Nova

Attendance

Prior to the webinar at 09h00 on Wednesday 29 March 2023, there were 1750 online registrations for the webinar. Attendance on the day peaked at about 750 attendees. All of the 1750 persons who registered to attend the webinar will receive this report-back providing links to view the video recording on demand, and to download the presentations, presenter biographies, and a summary of the presentations.

Job opportunities

Reunert Renewablesand its renewable energy cluster companies,Apollo Africa, CBI :energy, Terra Firma Solutions and Blue Nova Energy, are doing interesting and ground-breaking work in this sector, and are currently recruiting for top talent. Attendees who are interested to be part of this journey can make contact with the presenters below.

Further information
For further information, contact:

• Chris Yelland, EE Business Intelligence, chris.yelland@ee.co.za
• Jenna Harris, Apollo Africa, jenna@apolloafrica.co.za
• Roger Hislop, CBI :energy, roger.hislop@cbi-electric.com
• Ben Snyman, Terra Firma Solutions: ben@terrafirma-solutions.com
• James Verster, Blue Nova: jamesv@bluenova.co.za