Lightening the load

The impact of the 2015 loadshedding crisis was felt deeply by South Africa. The 99 days of loadshedding last winter contracted the gross domestic product by 1.3 percent and played no small role in the current volatility of the rand. Businesses of all sizes were affected by the random blackouts and limited access to systems when they needed them the most. It is very likely that this will be the same story on a different day when winter 2016 arrives, the grid's stability is tenuous and long-term solutions still underway. The South African CIO needs to get the right infrastructure and systems in place in order to be ready for whatever comes when electricity demand rises.

"One of the CIO's priorities is to focus on maintaining a secure and reliable IT infrastructure despite the prospect of power cuts," says Michael Needham, head of Solutions Architecture, Amazon Web Services CIS, Russia, Middle East and Africa. "One way in which businesses of all sizes can achieve this is through the use of cloud computing technologies. These allow the organisation to offload the responsibility of maintaining a continuous, redundant power supply for its technology infrastructure onto a cloud provider. It allows it to focus more of its resources on building valuable features, products and services instead of on diesel generators or engineering alternative power supplies."

Investing in a cloud-based solution can provide the business, especially the smaller one, with no small measure of protection against the vagaries of electricity. It can potentially isolate data and valuable services and gives employees the flexibility to work from wherever they may find themselves in the event of a power cut.

"To further ensure uptime, prevent data corruption as well as loss, to decrease power consumption and operational IT costs, organisations are increasingly opting for cloud-based services," adds Rory Headon-Weeks, CTO at Microsoft South Africa. "This allows them access to data from any device, any time and from anywhere while still keeping it safe and secure."

Knowing that data is secure and employees can still contribute meaningfully is one thing, but an uninterrupted power supply during loadshedding is always a win. It means sustained productivity and consistent service versus delays that can have a huge impact on operational costs and business profitability.

"One of the leading solutions to help organisations cope better with loadshedding is the new long-run battery pack that uses smart technology," says Jack Ward, MD of power provisioning specialist Powermode. "Traditionally, uninterruptable power supply systems (UPS) have been used to help the business cope with power outages, but they are not ideally positioned to address loadshedding. The routine loadshedding has exposed the Achilles heel of these standby devices - shortened battery lifespan when subjected to full depletion on a regular basis."

One way in which businesses of all sizes can achieve this is through the use of cloud computing technologies.

Michael Needham, Amazon Web Services CIS, Russia, Middle East and Africa

The impact of full battery drain and repeated loadshedding is also felt by specialised, sealed, deep cycle batteries and the cost to company can rapidly rise. Now, there are a number of locally developed battery packs and systems that use smart technology to balance the power and report issues via a cloud-based interface. Let's not forget that there is also a burgeoning market in solar solutions that are far quieter and more sustainable than the traditional generator.

"Today, decisions to select solar power as the go-to option are being supported by advances in rooftop solar photovoltaic technology, examples of which include new-generation utility grid-connected, hybrid solar power systems," adds Ward.

However, before organisations invest in the solutions they need to cope with loadshedding, they have to assess what they already have and the budgets they're prepared to allocate. No one enterprise-level installation is particularly cheap and money has to be spent wisely.

"Adding a renewable energy solution to a business that hasn't been optimised only reduces the problem, it doesn't directly address the issue," says Inus Dreckmeyr, CEO of Netshield. "The easiest way to understand what your consumption is and where you are spending the money is to do an energy peak and consumption profile to assess which devices are using the most power and then select an option that fits the business. The argument is always that you if you don't make money, you can't pay for anything, which is true, but if there is no power, how will you make money? Businesses need power to make money so investing in a loadshedding solution is worth it."

One of the leading solutions to help organisations cope better with loadshedding is the new long-run battery pack that uses smart technology.

Jack Ward, Powermode

The size and type of solution will be determined by what the business needs in its loadshedding arsenal. Often, the output of renewable energy is insufficient for sites that require much more than 0.5MW and reliance on fuel and generators is unavoidable. This means that plans have to be made to ensure fuel is available, stock on the way and systems ready for the worst. Brendan Dysel, head of Data Centre Systems at Teraco, has an interesting recommendation for the electricity-strapped enterprise.

"A strategic relationship with the municipality is critical," he says. "Any pre-warning from the municipality is advantageous in managing a critical environment as this provides the opportunity to get the relative fuel or generator specialists to site before the event occurs."

From generators to solar to hybrid and cloud, enterprising minds have recognised the challenges of a country undergoing loadshedding and developed solutions that can mitigate its impact on the business. In light of the current economic crisis, the state of the rand and the cost to business of losing hours to loadshedding, a reliable source of power is a mandatory investment.

Fast Fearsome Facts

• The SME Survey 2015 saw crime overtaken by loadshedding as the leading threat to the business [http://www.smesurvey.co.za/]
• Electricity cuts in 2015 cost the economy between R20.02 billion and R80.09 billion a month [http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/03/25/power-cuts-cost-economy-up-to-r80.09-billion-a-month]
• Erratic electricity affected the local food production industry - from farmer to retailer - and has cost the industry millions each month [http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Eskom/Load-shedding-hits-SA-food-production-20150729]
• Eskom is likely to continue rolling blackouts until late 2016 [http://www.enerdata.net/enerdatauk/press-and-publication/energy-news-001/eskom-will-continue-load-shedding-until-late-2016-south-africa_33700.html]
• Loss and damage due to blackouts impacted the insurance industry and premiums [http://www.mf.co.za/About-us/Pages/Insurance%E2%80%99s-take-on-load-shedding.aspx]

Salient advice

Organisations are well aware of how badly loadshedding can affect their profitability and future. We ask the decision- makers what they are doing now to safeguard tomorrow.

Andrew Aitken, Cloud Business Unit executive at Internet Solutions: "The best solution is to interrogate what your business does and how it does it, and then start imagining scenarios in which some or all of these ways of working are compromised. The best advice we can give is for companies to move toward a mobile and remote working strategy."

Hannes Roets, director at PowerIOptimal: "It is important to have protective measures in place to prevent costly disasters. The trouble starts when power is restored as a huge voltage fluctuation can physically fry unprotected devices and if that's not bad enough, it can fail again and then come on again. If the start-up or shut-down routines in high-tech equipment is interrupted, it can cause hardware failures. Invest in devices that protect against this and manage business loads."

George Davis, head: Construction and Engineering at Risk Benefit Solutions: "Mitigate risks associated with loadshedding through effective and comprehensive risk management procedures. Review risk management policies to ensure they are adequately covered from both a damages and liabilities standpoint."

Dr Raj Naidoom, director of Enermatics Energy: "There are so many providers offering solutions, it can be quite overwhelming for businesses. The best advice is to first assess why you need energy for business continuity."

Marco da Silva, MD, Jasco Power Solutions: "Don't spend a fortune on a long backup UPS. Get one that will last long enough for you to save your work, sort out a client, fix up what you need to and then let it switch over to the generator. Many corporates make this mistake and it is a very costly mistake. For small applications or loads, one can consider an inverter/charger solution where the battery autonomy can last up to four to eight hours."

The Tetris intitiative

As of February 2016, it has been 176 days since the last loadshedding, and Eskom has promised that this is one count that will continue to rise over the coming months. In a media briefing held in early February, Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe stated that the power utility does not foresee loadshedding over the coming months as the company has stabilised.

Eskom has put plans in place to ensure maintenance continues to stick to schedules and that the capital expansion programme continues uninterrupted. These factors point to a winter with power, which would be no small boon for an economy that has been hit by mercurial presidential decisions, among other things. Apparently, these changes are largely due to a new maintenance methodology that was structured around one of the most famous videogames of all time - Tetris.

The game asks that players allocate blocks of different sizes to specific spaces in order to win the game. Eskom is using this strategy to manage plant maintenance with no loadshedding. The results, according to Eskom, speak for themselves, with improved electricity demand predictability that allows for planned maintenance within the budget of 7 000MW in summer and 4 500MW in winter. The strategy has allowed for the organisation to reduce its maintenance backlog, improve plant availability and cut down on plant breakdowns.

A cloudy solution

Does the cloud really present a solution to the loadshedding crisis? Or is it just another piece of technology negatively impacted by the loss of power, leaving people twiddling their thumbs as they wait on Eskom's will? According to Michael Needham, head of Solutions Architecture, Amazon Web Services CIS, Russia, Middle East and Africa, cloud computing is something that all businesses in South Africa have available to them to prepare for any loadshedding event.

"It is a great way for the organisation to cope with loadshedding and to build a business continuity plan," he says. "With cloud computing, the organisation can have a replica copy of their entire technology infrastructure sitting in the cloud, ready to go at a moment's notice should something happen. Migrating to the cloud also gives smaller organisations the ability to access near endless amounts of compute, storage and other technologies over the internet, on a pay-as-you-go basis, lowering the overall cost of their IT and dramatically increasing agility."

The cloud potentially gives the organisation the freedom to offload responsibility onto someone else's shoulders and the freedom to access the information from any location. Lights go out on Main? Head on home or the nearest powered coffee shop to log in, download and carry on working. It doesn't take the lengthy waits at powered-down traffic lights into account, but we can't have everything...

A renewable conundrum

Renewable energy is often touted as the best choice for the power-starved business, but it has its own set of challenges. The expense involved in setting up a solar system, for example, is high, and for many organisations it can border on the prohibitive. This limits the number of companies that can afford to harness the power of the sun and there is still some concern over the effectiveness of the solutions currently on offer.

"On an individual company level, it is just too unreliable to rely on it alone for essential business services," says Andrew Aitken, Cloud Business Unit executive, Internet Solutions. "At best, renewable energy should be seen as a way to limit cost and offset consumption from the national grid. Rooftop solar can provide significant capacity with which to charge batteries, but will also need to be mediated in some way before it can be relied on to power essential systems because of the variation in output throughout the day."

Jack Ward, MD of Powermode, believes that the value of solar currently lies in a hybrid model that allows for more leeway and taps into some of the most recent technology on the market: "Decisions to select solar power as the go-to option are being supported by advances in rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, examples of which include new-generation, utility-grid-connected, hybrid solar PV power systems. These hybrid systems function as backup as well as complementary power sources and can operate in three modes: linked to the electricity grid, grid-tied with battery backup or standalone hybrid units."

Solar still feels like an untapped gold mine of free energy, but the solutions are not quite there yet; not quite at the point where they can power a business as effectively as the grid. This view is shared by Hannes Roets, director, PowerOptimal: "If all you are trying to do is bridge the gap between power outages, solar is not the answer. It is normally restricted to those who are serious about becoming entirely independent of Eskom and it is seriously expensive."

Will the real solution please stand up

So what should a business do to protect itself against the vagaries of the grid and any sudden changes to the Eskom schedule? What should be in the organisation's arsenal to prevent costly hours spent sat in the dark?

Marco Da Silva, of Jasco Power Solutions, recommends a two-in-one combination hybrid solution with a true online double conversion UPS supplied with a generator. Your IT needs to be backed up and the server needs to be maintained and this is done with a UPS and a generator. You need a contingency, UPS, generator, battery monitoring and diesel monitoring with active alert mechanisms."

On that point, Hannes Roets, director, PowerOptimal, agrees: "It's essential to ensure that the emergency system has the required endurance to supply power for the duration of a loadshedding event."

Each solution has its own advantages and disadvantages. Solar is expensive to install, with a long-term return on investment and demands significant space in order for it to work effectively. Generators are still a cheap option, but they need constant maintenance and refuelling - and the cost of diesel adds up significantly over time. There are also issues around storing the fuel and making sure it is in line with safety parameters. UPS has advanced and delivers superb battery life, but the full office load cannot usually be powered and they remain an expensive investment. Ultimately, the best choice is the one that's designed to match the specific energy requirements of a business as there is no one-size-fits-all approach.