Investigation into the potential of industrial cogeneration in South Africa

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Cogeneration is a promising technological option for SA and the world at large. This technologypermits the combined production of two forms of energy from a single fuel source. This possibility isadvantageous in industry where electricity and process heat can be produced with outstanding efficiency. It has been shown to offer sizable energy savings and cost advantages in a wide variety ofindustries around the world. Despite these attractive benefits SA‘s use of cogeneration remainslimited. In addition the true potential for cogeneration in SA has not been properly quantified. This represents a significant shortfall in our understanding of the future of the SA energy system. The integrated resource plan for electricity (2012) presents findings that 2GW of cogeneration capacity can be realised by 2020. This figure is unconfirmed and the sources of this proposed cogenerationdevelopment have not been scrutinized. These research gaps must be explored if SA is to realise itscogeneration potential. This research seeks to investigate the potential for cogeneration in SA. A research method was developed specifically to determine what cogeneration currently exists in SA and how much capacity could be developed into the future