Energy management : technological, environmental and economical factors influencing the operating regime at Majuba Power Station

M.Ing.In a country that ranks forty seventh on a list of fifty countries in a world competitive survey economic growth should be a high priority in South Africa. The main player in South Africa's energy industry took up the gauntlet and is moving to economic growth with the vision 'to provide the world's cheapest electricity for growth and prosperity." Competition was introduced among the electricity producers by a process called trading and brokering. Majuba power station, the most expensive electricity producer on the South African grid, was left out in the cold. Management of Majuba is challenged to derive resourceful strategies to ensure sustained profitability. These strategies will require a study into world trends to enable them to be more competitive. Crystal ball gazing is not needed to know that major restrictions on pollution of the atmosphere by industry will be curbed by stringent legislation. The current electrification programme in South Africa is bound to impact the shape of the daily load curve. Labour cost and the rate of inflation have been increasing and can be expected to keep on rising in the foreseeable future. It is important to know what macro effect these factors will have on the South African power industry. Majuba must be able to identify the changes lurking on the horizon and have contingency plans in place to meet these challenges. In this work different types of plant needed to meet the daily load demand are researched from literature. It is then compared to the types of plant installed in South Africa. This leads to the conclusion that the installed plant in South Africa is not sufficient to meet the daily demand effectively. A case study is done on Majuba Power Station that has been operating in a two shifting mode since December 1996. This means that the units is started every day to be on full load in time for morning peak and then shut down after evening peak. It is also shown that this mode of operation is proffitable for a relatively expensive power generator